THE  GIFT  OF 

FLORENCE  V.  V.  DICKEY 

TO  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

AT  LOS  ANGELES 


THE  DONALD  R.  DICKEY 

LIBRARY 

OF  VERTEBRATE  ZOOLOGY 


2013 


Ilea 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/fortyyearsfurtra01larpiala 


II. 

AMERICAN   EXPLORERS  SERIES. 
Xarpeuteur'5  Hutobioarapbs* 

VOL.   I. 


r 


^^€€r^t/ 


FORTY  YEARS  A  FUR  TRADER 

ON  THE 

UPPER  MISSOURI 
THE  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 

OF 

CHARLES  LARPENTEUR 

J833-J872 

EDITED,   WITH  MANY   CRITICAL  NOTES, 
BY 

ELLIOTT  COUES 

MAPSy    VIEWS.  AND  PORTRAITS 
IN  TWO  VOLUMES 

Vol.  I 

NEW  YORK 

FRANCIS  p.   HARPER 

1898 


Copyright,  1898, 

BY 

FRANCIS  P.  HARPER. 


jEdftton  XfmiteD 
to  050  Copies. 


College 
Library 

r 


DEDICATED 
TO  THE  EMINENT  ANTHROPOLOGIST 

WASHINGTON  MATTHEWS,  M.  D.,  LL.  D., 

major  and  surgeon,  u.  s.  army, 

author  of  ethnography  and  philology  of  the  hidatsa, 

etc.,  etc.,  etc., 

long  identified  with  the  west  described  by 

larpenteur,  and  but  for  whom  this 

work  would  not  be: 

with  the  great  respect  and  warm  regard  of  his  friend, 

The  Editor. 


CONTENTS. 


VOL  UME  I. 

CHAPTER  I. 

(1807-33.) 

My  Parentage  and  Early  Life. 

PAGE 

France  —  America  —  Baltimore  —  St.  Louis  —  Des  Moines 
Rapids — Keokuk — Captain  Throckmorton — Interpreter 
Blondeau — St.  Louis — Ashley's  Outfit  in — Sublette  and 
Campbell — Determined  to  Engage  in  the  Fur  Trade  in 
1833 — Recommendation  Secured — American  Fur  Com- 
pany Declined — Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company  Ac- 
cepted— Good-by  to  Civilization — St.  Charles — Lexington 
— The  Matter  of  Mules, i 

CHAPTER   IL 

(1833) 
Over  the  Plains  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Composition  of  the  Party  —  Their  Guests — Hard  Times 
Begin— Poor  Fare— Guard  Duty— On  the  Platte— First 
Buffalo— Boiled  Bull  Beef— From  Poor  Bull  to  Fat  Cow— 
The  North  Platte — Chimney  Rock — Laramie — Kicking 
against  the  Pricks — A  Good  Samaritan — Bullboats — The 
Usual  Orgies — South  Pass  of  Continental  Divide — A 
Fugacious  Trinity — Green  River  Rendezvous — Bonne- 
ville's Stockade 15 

vii 


Vill  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   III. 

(1833.) 

From  Green  River  Rendezvous  by  the  Bighorn  and 

THE  Yellowstone  to  the  Missouri. 

PAGE 

A  Party  Sent  to  Pierre's  Hole — One  Sober  Man  in  Camp — 
Acting  as  Clerk — Detailed  for  the  Yellowstone — ' '  Mad 
Wolf  ! " — George  Holmes  and  Others  Bitten — Departure 
for  the  Yellowstone— On  the  Sweetwater — Wind  River — 
Man  Shot — Fatalities  from  Hydrophobia — Down  the  Big- 
horn— Indian  Hostilities  Feared — Friendly  Absarokas — 
Crow  Camp — Fort  Cass — Down  the  Yellowstone — To  the 
Missouri — Mvile  Talk — Swimming  the  River,    .        .        .     3a 

CHAPTER  IV. 

(1833-34.) 
Fort  William, 

The  Building  Begun— And  Occupied— Horse  and  Cart  Well 
Matched — And  Driver  Too — Tchatka  Interviewed — 
Tchatka  "  Forks  "—"  Co-han  !  "—Out  of  Luck— Pem- 
mican,  Pepper,  and  Salt — Fort  William  Described — 
Sublette  Sells  out— The  Assiniboine  Arrives— Prepara- 
tions for  Home — Unexpected  Overtures — In  Good  Luck 
—Bargain  Made— To  Fort  Union— Clerk  A.  F.  Co.,        .     51 

CHAPTER  V. 

(1834-35.) 
Fort  Union. 

A  Coatless  Clerk — Bashful  at  the  Nabob's  Table— Assigned 
to  New  Duties — Bossing  Moncrevie's  Job— Promoted  in 
Charge  of    Men — Story  of    the  Still — Re-engaged    for 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGE 

Another  Year — First  Homicide — Other  Incidents  in  Fall 
of  1834 — Spring  of  1835 — Express  from  Fort  Clark — War 
Party  Arrives — Fatalities — Another  War  Party — Prepa- 
rations for  Defense — How  the  Fight  Ended — Mr.  Ham- 
ilton— More  Stories  to  Come, 70 

CHAPTER  VI. 

(1835-36.) 

Fort  Union  :  Continued. 

Murderous  Conspiracy — Put  to  the  Question — Old  Des- 
champs  Killed  —  Temporary  Truce  —  Character  of 
Gauche — His  Glorious  Campaign — Treachery  Medi- 
tated— Cowardly  Murder — Ready  for  Battle — Midnight 
Alarm  —  Deschamps  Family  Doomed  —  Deschamps 
Massacre  —  Cremation  —  Quietude  —  Story  of  the  Two 
Thieves, 87 

CHAPTER  VII. 

(1836-38.) 

Fort  Union  :  Continued. 

Kenneth  McKenzie — On  the  Upper  Missouri — Fort  Union 
Founded — Mission  to  the  Blackfeet — Blackfeet  in  Sight 
— '*  Now  for  the  Butcher  Shop  !  " — Diplomacy  of  Berger 
—Blackfeet  Brought  in— The  Blackfoot  Post— A  Yel- 
low-haired Bourbon  —  In  Flagrante  Delicto  —  Belea- 
guered Garrison — Brazeau  to  the  Rescue — The  Siege 
Raised — Lothario  Laid  Low — Canoe  Assiniboines — 
Pierre  Garreau — So-called  Tobacco  Garden — Larpen- 
teur  en  Derouine — Tortoise  in  Liquor — Hooting  Owl 
Heard — Back  from  Canoe  Camp — To  Fort  Union  Again 
— Smallpox — Ravages  of  the  Epidemic — Cheerful  Un- 
dertaker— Only  a  Few  Shots  Fired,  ....     106 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

(1838.) 

RoxjND  Trip  to  the  States. 

P&OB 

Down  the  Missouri — First  Fright — Second  Fright— Third 
Fright — Charbonneau  and  Sakagawia— Fort  Clark — 
Frangois  A.  Chardon — The  Vermilion  Post — Mr.  Dick- 
son— Aboard  the  Antelope — At  Home  in  Baltimore — 
Shooting  Match — Driving  the  Center — Off  from  St. 
Louis — Fever  and  Ague — Deer  Hunting — Fort  Clark 
Again  —  White  Earth  River  — ' '  Indians ! "  —  Polyglot 
Malediction — Back  to  Fort  Union,    .   "     .  .        .     136 

CHAPTER  IX. 

(1838-42.) 

Composed  of  All  Sorts. 

Fatal  Festivities — Sentence  of  Death — Corporal  Punish- 
ment— Round  Trip  to  St.  Louis — Return  to  Fort  Union 
— Unholy  Trinity — Fort  Van  Buren — The  Mexican  and 
his  India — Arrival  of  the  Crow  Outfit — Character  of 
Alexander  Harvey — His  Threatened  Settlements — Plot 
to  Kill  Him— He  Kills  the  Spaniard— Fort  Van  Buren 
Burned — Departure  for  Adams  Prairie — Story  of  the 
Grizzly  Bear— Arrival  of  the  Opposition— Fort  Alex- 
ander Built — Return  to  Fort  Union,  .        .        .158 

CHAPTER  X. 

(1843-44.) 

Wintering  at  Woody  Mountain. 

At  Fort  Union  again — Ebbitt's  Opposition — Fox,  Livingston 
and  Co. — Mr.  Kelsey — Fort  George  Founded — Forcible 
Eviction — Mr.  Cotton — Fort  Mortimer — Crazy  Bear,  the 


CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGE 

Assiniboine  Chief — His  Appearance  before  Mr.  Cul- 
bertson  —  Trade  Pushed  en  Derouine  —  Ordered  to 
Woody  Mountain  with  Mr.  Denig — The  Start — The 
Journey — Arrival  at  the  Cree  Camp — Ready  for  Opera- 
tions— The  Liquor  Trade — Blizzards — Mules  Frozen  to 
Death  —  Epicureanism — The  Tale  Adorned  with  a 
Moral  —  Suffering  from  Cold  —  On  the  Return — Sur- 
prised by  Indians — Trade  Declined— He  Who  Fears 
His  War  Club — Supposed  Horse  Thieves — Wounded 
Leg's  Camp — Colloquy  with  Wounded  Leg — Successful 
Diplomacy — Camp  in  the  Cherry  Bushes — No  Fire, 
Food,  or  Sleep — Boiled  Dog — Safe  Back  to  Fort  Union 
— The  Hand  Killed — Golden  Visions,       .        .        .        .177 

CHAPTER  XI. 

(1844-45.) 

Carnival  of  Crime. 

Jim  Bridger  and  his  Men — Sortie  against  Sioux — Gardepied 
Killed — Cowardice  of  Bridger's  Men — How  Trade  was 
Made  Brisk— F.  A.  Chardon — The  Blackfoot  Massacre — 
Harvey's  Awful  Deed, 21 1 

CHAPTER  XII. 

(1845-46.) 
Poplar  River  Camp. 

Outfitting  for  the  Blackfoot  Post — Repeated  Desertions — 
Sioux  Attack  Assiniboines — Harvey  Badly  Beaten — 
Harvey's  Plans — Harvey,  Primeau  and  Co. — Return  of 
Kenneth  McKenzie — Ordered  to  Poplar  River — In  Pop- 
lar River  Camp — Rage  of  the  Iron-eyed  Dog — Pacific 
Oratory — Tempest  in  a  Teapot — Conclusion  of  the 
Affair — Return  to  Fort  Union — Left  Masters  of  the 
Country 221 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

VOL.   /. 


Portrait    of    Charles    Larpenteur   (with 

Autograph), Frontispiece 

Sioux  City,  Iowa,  in  1866,      ....  Facing  page    22 

Devil's  Gate,  Sweetwater  River,  Wyoming,  "          "     .     28 

Forts  Union,  William,  and  Buford,  (map),  "  "  .  50 
Camp   of   Pembina   Half-breeds,  with   Red 

River  Carts, "          "'     .     54 

Fort  Union,   from    hitherto    Unpublished 

Drawing  of   1864 "          "     .    68 

Portrait  of  Pierre  Garreau,         .        .        .  *'          "    .  124 


INTRODUCTION. 


Human  documents  are  always  interesting,  and 
those  which  attest  the  development  of  the  Great  West 
will  claim  rightful  place  in  literature  till  the  final  word 
concerning  that  to  which  they  relate  shall  have  been 
spoken.  Such  finality  in  Western  history  is  still  afar; 
it  is  to  be  attained  by  none  now  living.  The  field  of 
research  is  much  too  w^ide;  and  if  it  be  not  exactly 
virginal,  nor  even  have  lain  quite  fallow,  the  workmen 
are  as  yet  too  few  to  gather  in  the  immense  outstand- 
ing crop.  The  history  of  what  Transmississippian 
State  or  Territory  has  been  brought  fully  up  to  date? 
That  of  not  one.  Young  as  most  of  them  are  in  com- 
parison with  a  Massachusetts  or  a  Virginia,  some  are 
older  by  far  than  their  reputed  ancestors;  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico  had  quite  a  literature  before  any  Plym- 
outh Rock  or  Jamestown  acquired  a  place  on  map 
or  in  mind.  Reviewing  what  has  been  done  already 
for  the  better  settled  side  of  the  great  river,  I  am  op- 
pressed by  a  sense  of  the  story  yet  to  be  told  of  the 
"  biggest  half "  of  the  American  commonwealth. 
Now  is  none  too  early  to  cease  to  be  inarticulate  in 


XVI  INTRODUCTION. 

the  parts  we  have  to  perform;  for  the  plot  thickens 
and  the  setting  of  the  stage  is  splendid.  Let  us 
speedily  utilize  our  properties;  they  are  readily  ac- 
cessible, and  they  abound;  they  should  not  be  suffered 
to  lapse  with  fugacious  years  in  the  insatiable  maw 
of  Time  the  cosmic  cannibal,  the  ceaseless  corroder 
and  obliterator,  alike  the  progenitor  of  all  things  and 
their  relegator  to  forgetfulness. 

Lest  we  too  may  forget,  I  wish  to  do  my  share  as 
a  curator  of  historical  materials,  even  if  I  may  not 
aspire  to  the  office  of  historian.  Among  my  beliefs 
is  that  of  the  prime  utility  of  contemf>oraneous  docu- 
ments for  historical  purposes.  These  are  the  great 
antiseptics  to  the  ptomaines  of  tradition — the  stocky 
facts  so  fatal  to  mythopoetic  microbes.  Much  his- 
tory so  called  may  be  the  Carlylese  "  distillation  of 
rumors,"  or  the  Napoleonic  "fable  agreed  upon"; 
but  much  more  may  be  relieved  of  any  such  imputa- 
tion if  we  do  our  duty  by  our  documents.  It  would 
surprise  most  persons  to  realize  how  quickly  a 
neglected  core  of  fact  gathers  the  mold  of  myth. 
Take  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition,  for  example. 
Never,  perhaps,  was  a  true  story  more  minutely  and 
completely  told;  to  know  all  about  it,  we  have  only 
to  read  what  the  explorers  themselves  had  to  say,  less 
than  one  hundred  years  ago.  But  the  take-it-for- 
granters,  the  forsoothers,  the  forgetters,  the  prevari- 


INTRODUCTION.  XVll 

cators,  the  misquoters,  the  unreaders — the  whole  tribe 
of  quidnunc  impressionists — have  meanwhile  found 
out  more  things  that  never  happened  in  this  case  than 
they  ever  learned  about  what  did  happen.  Accord- 
ing to  such  authorities,  there  are  few  early  years  of 
this  century  in  which  Lewis  and  Clark  were  not 
traveling;  fewer  routes  they  did  not  take  across  the 
continent;  and  fewest  of  all  are  the  places  in  the 
Rocky  mountains  where  they  did  not  pass  one  or  two 
winters.  Many  persons  who  live  in  the  shadow  of 
Pike's  Peak  never  knew  the  initials  of  his  name;  some 
think  he  was  Albert  Pike,  the  great  Freemason ;  some 
never  thought  anything  about  it;  and  nearly  all  sup- 
pose that  one  Pike  discovered  and  surmounted  the 
peak  which  bears  his  name.  Yet  anyone  who  should 
take  the  trouble  to  consult  the  very  original  docu- 
ment which  Pike  himself  has  handed  down  to  us 
would  learn  all  there  is  to  be  known  on  that  particu- 
lar point. 

The  history  of  the  West  is  still  largely  the  story  of 
discovery,  exploration,  survey,  colonization,  and  the 
like;  for  aught  else  is  of  comparatively  recent  develop- 
ment— is  contemporaneous,  or  nearly  such.  The 
bison  was  the  original  engineer,  who  followed  the  lay 
of  the  land  and  the  run  of  the  water;  the  Indian  fol- 
lowed the  bison;  the  white  man  followed  the  Indian; 
the  gun  and  trap,  the  pick  and  shovel,  the  whiskey-jug, 


XVlll  INTRODUCTION. 

plow,  and  locomotive  followed  the  white  man,  at  little 
if  any  interval:  this  is  the  order  of  empire  westward. 
Every  step  of  this  succession  is  of  absorbing  interest 
and  momentous  consequence;  perhaps  none  more  so 
than  those  taken  during  what  I  may  style  the  pictur- 
esque period,  when  the  plain  was  furrowed  not  by  the 
plow  but  by  the  hoof  of  the  bison,  when  no  Indian 
war-whoop  had  been  silenced  by  a  steam-whistle, 
when  the  trapper  and  trader  were  romantic  figures  in 
scenes  untamed  to  more  prosaic  industries.  Such 
times  as  these  call  for  chroniclers;  and  it  is  the  purpose 
of  the  American  Explorer  Series,  of  which  the 
present  volumes  form  a  continuation,  to  traverse  this 
historic  ground,  perhaps  to  cultivate  some  comers  of 
this  fruitful  field.  What  results  may  be  expected  are 
instanced  in  the  case  of  the  Journal  of  Jacob  Fowler, 
with  which  the  series  began.  Whoever  heard  of  it, 
or  of  its  author,  till  this  year  of  grace  1898?  A  float- 
ing paragraph  in  one  or  two  not  well-known  books 
was  to  the  vague  effect  that  a  trader  named  Glenn 
took  a  party  to  Santa  Fe  in  1822 — that  was  all.  Now 
we  have  the  narrative  of  that  enterprise,  complete  in 
every  detail,  in  an  authentic,  genuine,  original,  con- 
temporaneous human  document — and  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  history. 

Few  persons  now  living  may  measure  the  full  im- 
portance of  the  Fur  Trade  as  a  factor  in  the  develop- 


INTRODUCTION.  XIX 

ment  of  what  has  been  called  the  "  wild  and  woolly 
West  " — thereby  giving  occasion  for  Lummis'  witty 
retort  upon  a  "  tame  and  cottony  East."  Fewer  still 
can  be  aware  of  what  iniquities  and  atrocities  the  seamy 
side  of  that  indispensable  industry  reveals.  Those 
who  have  read  the  Journals  of  Alexander  Henry  and 
David  Thompson  have  had  their  eyes  opened  to  the 
systematic  swindling  and  debauching  of  Indians 
which  characterized  the  traffic  as  conducted  in  Canada 
and  some  portions  of  the  United  States,  and  may 
readily  believe  that  the  pursuit  of  pelf  in  pelt  was 
always  tarred  with  the  same  stick.  This  identical 
subject — intrinsically  important,  in  some  respects  re- 
pellent, never  failing  of  tragic  interest,  albeit  sordid 
and  squalid — is  continued  in  the  autobiography  of 
Charles  Larpenteur. 

As  Fowler's  Journal  and  Fowler  himself  were  until 
this  year,  so  have  Larpenteur  and  his  narrative  been 
hitherto — unknown.  The  latter,  like  the  former,  will 
be  found  composed  of  the  very^  fiber  that  goes  to  the 
web  of  history.  It  is  a  notable  and  entirely  novel 
contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  the  Fur  Trade  of 
the  Upper  Missouri  for  a  period  of  more  than  an 
average  lifetime,  by  one  who  lived  the  life  and  worked 
his  way  through  it,  from  the  position  of  a  mere  hand 
to  that  of  one  of  its  heads.  Among  other  conclusions 
we  may  draw  from  this  narrative,  it  would  appear  that 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

the  unpalliated  and  unmitigated  evils  were  inherent 
in  the  system  of  traffic  itself,  red  and  white  natures 
being  what  they  respectively  were;  that  there  was  a 
smoother  than  the  seamy  side  of  the  business;  that  a 
good,  kindly  man  might  be  about  it,  and  die  poor  but 
honest;  and  that  it  called  out  some  of  the  best  as  well 
as  the  worst  of  human  qualities — some  of  the  most 
manly,  even  heroic,  traits,  remote  from  cupidity  and 
cruelty. 

The  circumstances  under  which  Larpenteur's 
manuscript  came  into  my  possession  are  to  be  here 
noted.  One  day  in  1872,  when  my  friend  and  then 
brother-officer  of  the  medical  corps  of  the  army.  Dr. 
Washington  Matthews,  was  at  Fort  Buford,  he  re- 
ceived from  the  author  a  letter,  the  material  portions 
of  which  I  copy  literally  from  the  original  now  before 
me,  as  follows: 

Little  Sioux  March  the  first.  1872 
Doctr 

Washington  Mathew 

Dear  Sir 

Your  kind  favor  was  received 
on  the  2gth  ult.  And  was  pleased  to  learn  that  you  was  well  as 
well  as  all  the  folks,  and  that  Buford  was  progresing  so  fast.  I 
would  like  very  much  to  see  the  old  place  again.  I  Cannot  take 
any  more  Comfort  down  here,  particularly  after  the  death  of  my 
little  boy.   .   . 

But  a  few  days  ago  I  got  through  writing  a  book  of  my  life,  by 
this  title — History — 

of  the  life  of  Charles  Larpenteur.      With 


INTRODUCTION.  XXI 

many  interesting  Stories  written  by  himself,  after  the  residence 
of  fourty  years  in  the  Indian  Country  Also  his  views  on  Indian 
affairs  and  sugestions  for  their  governement 

I  intended  to  have  this  work  publishd  but  it  will  Cost  me 
more  than  I  Can  afford  I  have  tried  some  in  Sioux  City,  they  say 
it  will  Cost  $1.25  per  page,  to  get  it  ready  for  the  print,  now 
there  Comes  the  printing,  binding,  and  illustrations,  it  would 
amount  to  at  least  $500.  not  knowing  whether  it  would  take. 
This  manuscript  would  be  of  some  use  to  you,  if  you  whish  I 
will  send  it  up  to  you,  you  Can  look  it  over  and  tell  me  what  you 
think  of  it.  I  think  also  that  you  Coud  get  it  up  in  good  shape 
for  the  print  I  would  satisfy  you  well  for  your  trouble.  It  will 
Contain  about  three  hundred  pages,  a  book  the  size  of  Ecy,  omo 
[Ecce  Homo]  ...  I  have  the  honor  to  remain  very  respectfully 
Yours 

[signed]  Chas  Larpenteur 

After  some  further  correspondence,  the  original 
manuscript  of  this  "  History  of  the  Life  of  Charles 
Larpenteur,"  etc.,  making  about  two  hundred  closely 
written  foolscap  pages,  was  mailed  to  Dr.  Matthews 
by  its  author,  on  June  14,  1872,  A  clerical  copy  was 
made,  and  the  original  returned  to  its  owner.  This 
copy  was  kindly  placed  in  my  hands  by  Dr.  Matthews, 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  on  Oct.  17,  1897,  for  any  use 
I  might  wish  and  be  able  to  make  of  it.  I  soon  after- 
ward received  the  original  from  Mr.  A.  L.  Larpenteur, 
of  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  a  nephew  of  the  author;  and 
through  the  friendly  attentions  of  Mr.  Mitchell  Vin- 
cent, of  Onawa,  la.,  I  was  further  favored  with  vari- 
ous other  of  Larpenteur's  autograph  journals  and 


XXll  INTRODUCTION. 

note-books  which  had  been  found  in  the  possession 
of  his  widow  at  Fontainebleau,  near  Little  Sioux,  la. 
Such  are  the  first-hand  materials  upon  which  the  pres- 
ent work  has  been  prepared  for  publication;  and  thus 
has  been  realized  the  desire  of  the  author's  heart,  a 
quarter  of  a  century  after  it  ceased  to  beat. 

Larpenteur  seems  to  have  cherished  aspirations  be- 
yond his  powers  of  accomplishment ;  his  ambition  out- 
ran the  strict  limitations  of  his  frontier  environment, 
so  untoward  authorship.  He  was  fond  of  himself,  as 
most  persons  are,  and  doubtless  found  in  the  pen  a 
last  means  of  relieving  the  uneasy  introspection  con- 
sequent upon  financial  failure,  ill  health,  and  other 
grievous  burdens.  But  he  journalized  more  or  less 
from  beginning  to  end  of  his  adult  life,  the  principal 
events  of  which  he  faithfully  set  forth,  according  to 
his  lights,  in  the  final  "  History  "  which  he  com- 
pleted a  few  months  before  his  death. 

Dr.  Matthews,  who  knew  Larpenteur  personally, 
describes  him  to  me  as  a  small,  spare,  wiry  man  of  dis- 
tinct Gallic  type,  as  shown  in  the  photographic 
frontispiece  of  this  volume.  He  was  very  intelligent, 
vivacious  and  witty  in  conversation,  full  of  anecdote 
and  reminiscence,  and  unusually  well-informed  for  a 
man  in  his  position.  He  was  also  fairly  well-read, 
which  may  have  made  him  a  full  man,  though  his 
reading  never  enabled  him  to  acquire  any  consider- 


INTRODUCTION.  XXlll 

able  facility  or  felicity  of  expression  in  writing.  Not- 
withstanding his  habitual  handling  of  the  pen,  he  was 
never  on  good  terms  with  English  orthography  and 
syntax.  This  does  not  seem  to  have  been  due  to  his 
nationality;  English  so  early  took  the  place  of  his 
mother  tongue  that  it  is  not  probable  he  could  have 
written  better,  if  as  well,  in  French.  Indeed,  the 
rarity  of  a  French  phrase  or  word  in  his  writings  is 
notable,  and  there  is  hardly  a  trace  of  foreign  idiom 
in  the  composition  of  this  Frangais  de  France. 

In  disposition  Larpenteur  was  kindly  and  amiable, 
though  quite  capable  of  harboring  resentment  against 
any  who  had  ruffled  his  quick  plumes  or  wounded  his 
amour-propre.  Personal  vanity  was  no  doubt  his 
foible,  as  it  is  that  of  most  Frenchmen,  and  a  great 
many  other  people.  That  once  wounded  was  hard  to 
heal,  perhaps  never  quite  cured;  and  when  unhurt  it 
often  made  him  consider  himself  a  more  important 
factor  in  the  universe  than  the  facts  may  have  seemed 
to  others  to  warrant.  But  he  had  marked  ability  in 
his  business  and  was  considered  a  safe  and  sure  man, 
who  could  be  implicitly  trusted,  even  by  those  who 
did  not  like  him  personally;  his  integrity  was  ques- 
tioned by  none.  This  is  a  characterization  given  me 
by  more  than  one  person  of  whom  he  speaks  dis- 
paragingly in  his  book,  and  whose  good  opinion  in 
this  particular  I  trust  will  not  be  modified  by  anything 


XXIV  INTRODUCTION. 

he  has  written.  I  think  myself  that  he  has  been,  no 
doubt  unintentionally,  unjust  in  one  or  two  instances  I 
could  cite;  but  I  have  not  felt  at  liberty  to  materially 
modify  any  expression  of  his  sentiments.  These  are 
in  the  nature  of  quit-claims  to  some  old  scores,  not 
open  to  reconsideration  since  the  mortgage  has  been 
foreclosed  by  death. 

"  The  journalist,"  as  he  often  styled  himself, 
took  pride  in  his  personal  appearance,  and  liked 
to  adorn  it.  He  was  very  courteous  in  address, 
never  addicted  to  profane  or  indecent  language, 
and  seldom  drank — never  to  excess.  All  this 
was  quite  enough  to  set  him  apart  unpleasantly 
from  most  of  his  associates,  and  make  him  a 
sort  of  white  crow  or  black  swan  to  the  half- 
horse,  half-alligator  individualities  of  that  Missourian 
fraternity  among  whom  his  lot  was  cast.  His  cour- 
age was  rather  of  the  moral  than  of  the  physical  kind, 
and  therefore  viewed  with  unconcern  by  the  average 
dare-devil  of  his  entourage.  Unlike  most  of  his  white 
companions  he  had  no  dull  indifTerence  to  theology; 
he  took  an  inquisitive  interest  in  such  speculations,  and 
became  an  unbeliever  in  church  creeds  and  dogmas. 
He  found  in  salutary  cynical  philosophy  a  refuge  from 
the  many  reverses  and  misfortunes  he  experienced; 
and  his  final  financial  ruin  in  the  business  to  which  he 
had  devoted  the  best  years  of  his  life  had  made  him  a 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 

practical  pessimist  by  the  time  he  wrote  his  memoirs. 
A  Voltairish  undertone  runs  through  them;  he  seems 
to  be  always  greeting  the  inevitable  with  a  shrug,  and 
soothing  his  self-love  to  the  last  by  shifting  the  blame 
on  fate — as  much  as  to  say,  I  must  have  been  bom  to 
bad  luck,  else  how  explain  this  result  of  all  my  in- 
dustry, ability,  and  other  commendable  qualities? 
He  was  a  man  who  made  warm  friends,  and  enemies 
of  like  temperature;  those  who  knew  him  best  were 
most  likely  to  be  the  former.  As  for  the  latter,  we 
must  remember  the  significant  fact,  that  almost  every 
native  American  on  the  Upper  Missouri  hated  a 
Frenchman  on  general  principles,  as  a  matter  of  race- 
prejudice  hardly  possible  to  overcome. 

But  of  all  such  things,  and  others  that  might  oc- 
cupy the  remainder  of  this  Introduction,  the  discern- 
ing reader  will  be  able  to  judge  as  well  as  the  editor, 
upon  sufficient  scrutiny  of  the  full-length  portraiture 
Larpenteur  has  naively  left  of  his  individuality.  The 
editor  need  not  say  much  of  his  share  in  the  net  re- 
sult, as  it  consists  chiefly  in  polishing  and  hanging 
appropriately  the  mirror  in  which  Larpenteur  viewed 
his  own  likeness.  The  author  was  aware  of  his  liter- 
ary infirmity  when  he  sent  the  manuscript  to  Dr. 
Matthews,  thinking  that  the  latter  "  could  get  it  up 
in  good  shape  for  the  print  ";  and  this  is  what  I  have 
tried  to  do.     The  writing  was  not  bad  enough  to  pre- 


XXVI  INTRODUCTION. 

serve  inviolate  as  a  curiosity,  like  Jacob  Fowler's;  yet 
there  was  scarcely  a  sentence  in  it  all  that  did  not 
need  to  be  recast  to  some  extent  in  preparing  the 
manuscript  for  publication.  But  this  is  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  grammar;  I  have  simply  helped  the  author  to 
express  himself;  the  sense  and  sentiment  are  his  own, 
if  the  style  is  not. 

Readers  of  Larpenteur  will  judge  of  his  ability  as  a 
raconteur.  Of  his  truthfulness  there  is  no  question. 
He  has  given  us  a  very  notable  contribution  to  the 
history  of  the  West — one  with  which  future  writers 
upon  his  time  and  scene  must  reckon.  I  am  sure 
that  this  is  a  book  of  which  it  may  be  said,  in  the 
mother  tongue  of  a  Montaigne,  "  cecy  est  un  livre  de 
bonne  foy." 

Dr.  Washington  Matthews,  who  generously  relin- 
quished to  me  his  copy  of  the  original  manuscript,  is 
further  to  be  credited  with  no  small  share  of  the  edit- 
ing, annotating,  and  illustrating  of  these  volumes.  I 
make  more  formal  acknowledgment  to  him  on  a  pre- 
ceding page;  here  I  have  the  pleasure  of  witnessing 
his  kind  assistance  throughout  the  work.  In  reading 
the  proofs  with  me  he  has  always  given  me  the  bene- 
fit of  his  long  experience  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  of  his 
keen  criticism  and  wise  counsel:  so  that,  if  any  points 
be  left  obscure  or  dubious,  it  is  because  our  united  in- 
tellects were  unequal  to  the  emergency.  I  am  also 
particularly  indebted  to  Mr.  Mitchell  Vincent  for  plac- 


/ 


INTRODUCTION.  XXvii 

ing  much  valuable  material  in  my  hands,  including  a 
map  of  Fontainebleau  and  vicinity,  which  he  drew  for 
this  work;  and  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  H.  M.  Chitten- 
den, Corps  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.,  for  many  friendly 
attentions  and  valued  suggestions  during  the  progress 
of  the  work.  I  have  also  been  assisted  in  various 
ways  by  Mr.  A.  L.  Larpenteur  and  Mrs.  Charles  Lar- 
penteur;  Mr.  Henry  A.  Boiler,  of  Denver,  Col.,  who  has 
taken  in  such  good  part  certain  strictures  which  will 
be  found  in  his  quondam  partner's  text;  Hon.  Charles 
Aldrich,  of  the  State  Historical  Department,  Des- 
moines,  la.;  Mr.  John  H.  Charles,  of  Sioux  City,  la.; 
Mr.  D.  W.  Butts,  of  Little  Sioux,  la.;  Mr.  D.  W. 
Longfellow,  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.;  Rev.  C.  L.  Hall, 
of  Elbowoods,  N.  Dak.;  Mr.  W.  O.  Owen,  of  Chey- 
enne, Wyo. ;  Mr.  Maurice  Kingsley,  of  New  Rochelle, 
N.  Y.;  Mr.  F.  W.  Hodge,  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Eth- 
nology at  Washington,  D.  C;  General  O.  B.  Willcox, 
U.  S.  A. ;  Prof.  Asaph  Hall,  of  Cambridge,  Mass. ;  Ex- 
President  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Indianapolis,  Ind.; 
and  Miss  Helen  P.  Clarke,  of  the  Otoe  Agency,  Okla. 
The  extensive  Index,  which  renders  immediately  ac- 
cessible every  capitalized  name  to  be  looked  for  in  the 
book,  and  various  other  subjects,  has  been  prepared 
by  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Anderson  with  the  same  skill  and 
care  she  has  shown  in  several  previous  instances. 

E.  C. 
No,  1726  N  Street,  Washington,  D.  C, 
October  17,  1898. 


LARPENTEUR'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  I. 
(1807-33.) 

MY   PARENTAGE  AND   EARLY  LIFE. 

In  order  to  inspire  the  reader  with  confidence  in 
the  veracity  of  my  writing — for  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  I  write  this  book  for  true  and  faithful  in- 
formation of  the  public — I  thought  it  would  be  well 
to  give  him  an  introduction  to  myself,  before  entering 
on  the  journey. 

I  was  born  in  France,  in  the  year  1807,^  five  miles 
from  Fontainebleau,  on  the  border  of  the  beautiful 
Seine,  45  miles  from  Paris.  My  father,  who  was 
neither  rich  nor  poor,  but  a  great  Bonapartist,  left 
France  for  America  immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Waterloo,  thinking  that  the  American  government 

'  Date  of  birth  at  variance  with  the  inscription  on  his  tomb- 
stone, which  states  that  he  died  Nov.  15,  1872,  aged  69  years, 
6  months,  7  days. 


2  FROM   FRANCE   TO  AMERICA. 

would  make  some  attempt  to  get  Napoleon  off  the 
island  of  St.  Helena;  but  after  conversing  with  several 
individuals,  and  particularly  with  Commodore  Porter,- 
he  found  that  the  government  would  countenance 
no  such  attempt.  So  the  project  was  abandoned — I 
say  the  project,  for  it  had  been  started  by  the  many 
French  officers  who  were  at  the  time  in  Philadelphia. 
Louis  XVIII.  having  issued  a  pardon,  most  of  them 
returned  to  France.  My  father  returned  after  an  ab- 
sence of  one  year,  during  which  he  found  the  Ameri- 
can government  and  the  country  to  suit  him.  So  he 
sold  all  his  property  and  left  France  in  1818,  with  a 
family  of  four  children — three  boys  and  one  daughter, 
I  being  the  youngest  son.  In  his  travels  in  America 
he  had  chosen  Baltimore  as  his  future  residence. 
Having  landed  at  New  York  we  came  to  Baltimore, 
where  he  purchased  a  small  farm  of  60  acres,  five  miles 
from  the  city.  This  farm  belonged  to  some  French 
who  had  been  forced  to  emigrate  by  the  massacre  of 
St.  Domingo,  and  was  established  by  Monsieur  La 

'  David  Porter,  the  distinguished  American  naval  officer, 
father  of  Admiral  David  Dixon  Porter,  b.  Boston,  Feb.  i,  1780, 
d.  Pera,  Turkey,  Mar.  3, 1843.  At  date  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo, 
June  18,  1815,  and  thereafter  to  Dec,  1823,  Capt.  or  Comm. 
Porter  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  naval  commissioners.  He 
resigned  from  the  navy  in  1826,  had  command  of  the  naval 
forces  of  Mexico  in  1826-29,  was  consul-general  of  the  United 
States  to  Barbary  for  a  year  or  more,  and  finally  U.  S.  minister 
to  Turkey,  1831-43. 


FROM   BALTIMORE  TO   ST.   LOUIS.  3 

Bie  Du  Bourgh  De  Berg  [sic] ;  it  was  well  supplied 
with  fruits,  but  the  soil  was  poor  and  stony,  and  this 
lad  got  sick  of  it.  Hearing  much  of  the  fine  rich  soil 
of  Missouri,  I  determined  to  try  my  luck  in  the  Far 
West — for  at  that  time  it  was  considered  quite  a  jour- 
ney to  St.  Louis. 

So  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  I  determined  to  leave 
home,  and  started  with  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of 
J.  W.  Johnson,  who  had  been  a  sutler  at  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  had  a  large  number  of  negroes  whom  he 
was  taking  to  Missouri.  I  assisted  him  as  far  as 
Wheeling,  where  he  took  a  steamer,  and  I  went  across 
country  on  horseback  alone.  That  is  43  years  ago. 
I  had  a  fine  trip  of  22  days.  I  remained  two  years 
about  St.  Louis  in  the  capacity  of  overseer  for  Major 
Benjamin  O'Fallon,^  a  retired  Indian  agent,  with 
whom  I  had  a  great  deal  to  talk  about  Indians  and 

*  Son  of  Dr.  James  O'Fallon  and  Frances  Clark  (sister  of 
William  Clark  and  afterward  Mrs.  Thruston),  and  brother  of  Col. 
John  O'Fallon:  see  Lewis  and  Clark,  ed.  1893,  pp.  Ixv,  Ixxx,  xci. 
"  Benjamin  O'Fallon  was  for  many  years  an  Indian  Agent  of  the 
United  States.  He  was  an  honest,  courageous,  and  careful 
officer,  who  possessed  great  influence  over  the  various  tribes 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  and  was  of  great  service  in  aid- 
ing the  government  in  many  treaties.  His  memory  is  perpetu- 
ated in  the  West  by  O'Fallon's  Bluff  on  the  Platte  River  in 
Nebraska,  and  O'Fallon's  Creek  in  Montana,  near  Glendive," 
Cont.  Hist.  Soc.  Montana,  ii,  1896,  p.  227.  For  other  names  of 
O'Fallon's  creek,  tributary  to  the  Yellowstone,  see  L.  and  C,  ed. 
1893,  p.  1 163. 


4  DES  MOINES  RAPIDS — KEOKUK. 

Indian  countries,  which  finally  induced  me  to  try  the 
wilderness. 

My  first  trip  was  up  the  Mississippi  to  Des  Moines 
rapids,  the  year  previous  to  the  Black  Hawk  War  of 
1832.  At  this  time  there  were  two  stores  at  Keo- 
cuck  * — not  yet  called  by  that  name ;  one  of  them  be- 
longed to  an  individual  named  Stillwell,**  and  the  other 
to  Mr.  Davenport,"  who  was  afterward  murdered  on 

*  Keokuk,  Lee  Co.,  la.,  was  chiefly  known  as  The  Point  in 
1831,  but  also  called  Foot  of  the  Rapids,  and  Puckeshetuck,  until 
it  was  christened  after  the  celebrated  Sac  chief  whose  name  it 
still  commemorates.  The  proposal  to  call  it  Keokuk  appears  to 
have  been  first  made  by  Col.  George  L.  Davenport,  at  a  meeting 
held  to  celebrate  July  4,  1829.  on  a  steamboat  then  lying  at 
-what  is  now  the  foot  of  Main  st. :  so  Dr.  Isaac  Galland,  in  a 
letter  published  some  years  before  his  death  in  1858,  quoted  in 
Hist.  Lee  Co.  There  is  a  conflict  of  dates  here;  Isaac  R.  Camp- 
bell states  that  there  was  no  Ke-O-kuk  till  1835,  when  the 
name  was  proposed  by  some  steamboat  men  detained  there  to 
lighten  over  the  rapids;  but  the  original  proposal  and  final  adop- 
tion of  the  name  may  easily  have  been  at  different  dates. 
"From  this  time" — 1835,  says  Mr.  Campbell — "the  name  of 
Keokuk  was  adopted,  and,  in  1837.  I  sold  my  potato-patch 
enclosure  to  Dr.  Isaac  Galland,  Agent  of  the  New  York  Land 
Company,  and,  under  his  supervision,  a  city  in  embr}'o  was 
formally  inaugurated  and  recorded  as  'Keokuk.'"  The  first 
house  is  said  to  have  been  built  there  by  Dr.  Samuel  C.  Muir,  in 
1820;  Dr.  Galland  laid  out  the  original  town  plat  in  1837. 

'  Moses  Stillwell,  whose  daughter  Margaret  was  the  first  white 
child  born  at  The  Point,  Nov.  22,  1829. 

•  Col.  George  L.  Davenport,  murdered  in  his  home  on  Rock 
Island,  by  the  Fox  and  Hodges  gang,  July  4,  1845 — the  noted 


CAPTAIN  THROCKMORTON.  5 

Rock  Island.  I  came  up  to  the  place  in  a  small 
steamer  called  the  Red  Rover,  commanded  by  Capt. 
Throgmorton,'  who  is  still  alive  and  has  made  many 
trips  up  this  river — as  fine  a  gentleman  as  I  ever 
knew.  On  the  way  up  I  became  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Blondo/  interpreter  for  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians. 
He  took  a  great  fancy  to  me,  and  nothing  would  do 
but  I  must  go  with  him  to  his  farm,  seven  miles  up  the 
rapids,  and  remain  there  until  the  boat  got  over  the 
rapids,  which  it  was  supposed  would  take  a  long  time, 
as  the  river  was  very  low.  I  consented,  got  a  horse 
caloh,®  and  we  started.  The  improvements  consisted 
of  a  comfortable  log  cabin,  and  Blondo  was  indeed 

person  for  whom  the  city  of  Davenport,  la.,  was  named,  and  not 
to  be  confounded  with  Col.  William  Davenport  of  the  U.  S. 
Army,  who  was  some  time  stationed  on  Rock  Island.  His  house 
was  still  standing  in  1890  or  later.  See  Davenport  Democrat  of 
Dec.  16,  1890,  and  Ann.  of  Iowa,  ii,  Nos.  2  and  3,  July-Oct.,  1895, 

p.  243 

■•  Dr.  Matthews  informs  me  that  Larpenteur's  praise  of  Capt. 
Throckmorton  is  none  too  generous,  and  adds:  "  He  was  an  old 
resident  of  St.  Louis — a  steamboat  owner  who  often  took  com- 
mand of  his  own  vessels,  and  hence  was  called  captain.  He 
had  a  large  family,  mostly  daughters,  some  of  whom  must  still 
live  in  St.  Louis.  His  boat,  with  himself  and  family  on  board, 
was  frozen  in  at  Fort  Buford  one  winter — I  think  1 8  70-71.  I 
have  met  him  frequently,  but  do  not  remember  his  first  name," 

*  Interpreter  Blondeau  had  been  there  or  thereabouts  for  many 
years:  see  Pike,  ed.  of  1895,  pp.  32,  34,  211,  referring  to  1805-06. 

'  Sic — probably  for  calash,  calesh,  or  caleche — a  sort  of  one- 
horse  vehicle. 


6  INTERPRETER  BLONDEAU. 

well  fixed  for  the  country  at  the  time.  After  some 
little  time  he  took  me  into  the  village  and  introduced 
me  to  several  of  the  leading  men,  of  whom  a  great 
many  were  drunk,  and  toward  evening  he  got  so 
drunk  himself  that  he  frequently  asked  me  if  I  did  not 
want  to  "  smell  powder,"  but  as  I  never  felt  like  smell- 
ing powder  as  he  proposed,  I  decHned,  not  knowing 
why  he  used  the  expression.  After  the  spree  the  old 
gentleman  was  very  kind,  took  me  all  over  the  half- 
breed  reservation — as  fine  country  as  I  ever  saw — and 
finally  remarked  that  he  would  give  me  all  the  land  I 
wanted  if  I  should  happen  to  make  a  match  with  his 
niece,  Louise  Dauphin.  That  was  said  after  I  had 
given  up  the  idea  of  going  on  to  Prarie  du  Chien, 
where  I  was  bound;  but,  thinking  myself  too  young, 
I  declined  all  overtures,  although  I  confess  that  I 
came  very  near  accepting  the  offer,  for  Louise  was 
one  of  the  handsomest  girls  I  ever  saw — it  cost  me 
many  long  sighs  to  leave  her,  and  more  afterward. 

After  two  months'  residence  at  the  rapids  I  re- 
turned to  St.  Louis,  with  full  determination  to  see 
more  of  the  wild  Indians.     General  Ashley,"  who 

"•JGeneral  William  H.  Ashley,  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and 
successful  of  the  St,  Louis  fur  traders,  lieutenant  governor  in 
1820-24,  member  of  Congress,  etc.  His  name  was  a  power  all  over 
the  West  in  those  days.  The  curious  reader  will  find  much 
about  him,  and  some  things  very  much  to  the  personal  point,  in 
James  P.  Beckwourth's  book,  passim:  see,   for  example,   the 


RETURN   OF  ASHLEY'S   OUTFIT  TO   ST.   LOUIS.        7 

was  then  carrying  on  great  beaver  trapping  in  the 
Rocky  mountains,  was  in  the  habit  of  hiring  as  many 
as  ICO  men  every  spring.  They  were  engaged  for 
1 8  months,  to  return  in  the  fall  of  the  following  year 
with  the  furs.  Not  long  after  I  came  from  the  rapids 
General  Ashley's  party  returned  from  the  mountains 
with  100  packs  of  beaver.  A  pack  of  beaver  is  made 
up  of  6o  average  beavers,  supposed  to  weigh  lOO  lbs., 
worth  in  New  York  at  that  time  from  $7  to 
$8  per  lb.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  my  feel- 
ings at  the  sight  of  all  that  beaver — ^all  those  moun- 
tain men  unloading  their  mules,  in  their  strange 
mountain  costume — most  of  their  garments  of  buck- 
skin and  buffalo  hide,  but  all  so  well  greased  and  worn 
that  it  took  close  examination  to  tell  what  they  were 
made  of.  To  see  the  mules  rolling  and  dusting  is 
interesting  and  shocking  at  the  same  time;  most  of 
them,  having  carried  their  burdens  of  200  pounds' 
weight  for  about  2,000  miles,  return  with  scarcely  any 
skin  on  their  backs;  they  are  peeled  from  withers  to 
tail,  raw  underneath  from  use  of  the  surcingle,  and 
many  are  also  lame. 

William  Sublette "  and  Robert  Campbell "  had 

redoubtable  Jim's  quarrel  and  reconciliation  with  him,  pp.  57-68 
of  C.  G.  Leland's  ed.,  1892. 

"  Each  a  well-known  person  in  the  fur  trade,  of  whom  we  hear 
much  in  the  sequel.  In  1833  they  were  partners  in  the  Rocky 
Mt.  Co.,  and  their  trip  to  the  mountains  in  1832,  when  they  were 


8  DETERMINED  TO  ENGAGE. 

attended  General  Ashley  on  several  trips  to  the  moun- 
tains— Campbell  as  clerk,  mostly  on  account  of  his 
health;  he  had  previously  been  clerk  for  Keith  and 
O'Fallon/^  Sublette  was  a  farmer  near  St.  Louis, 
but  was  more  for  trapping  beaver  than  farming. 

The  sight  of  all  this  made  me  determined  to  take 
a  trip  of  the  same  kind.  The  journey  to  the  Rocky 
mountains  at  that  early  period  was  considered  very 
hard,  and  dangerous  on  account  of  the  Pawnees  and 
Blackfeet.  While  trapping  that  summer  William 
Sublette  had  been  badly  wounded  in  the  shoulder  in 
a  fight  with  the  Blackfeet."  But  not  all  this  danger, 
and  the  hardships  to  be  endured  on  such  a  trip, 
could  prevent  me  from  engaging,  in  the  spring  of 

1833-" 

accompanied  by  N.  J.  Wyeth's  party,  will  be  found  noted  in 
living's  Bonneville,  chap.  vi. 

"  Col.  John  O'Fallon:  see  note  ^,  p.  3. 

"  The  battle  of  Pierre's  Hole,  1832,  which  became  well-known 
by  Irving's  spirited  description  in  his  Bonneville,  chap,  vi,  where 
Sublette's  wound  in  the  shoulder  is  noted. 

"  The  Autobiography  had  here:  "  As  near  as  I  can  remember 
in  the  spring  of  thirty-two  1832."  But  Larpenteur's  memory  was 
then  at  fault;  the  date  is  1S33.  This  is  proven  by  his  Original 
Journal,  which  he  began  to  write  at  Fort  Union  on  Sept.  8,  1834, 
and  which  is  now  before  me.  It  opens  thus:  "  Fort  Union  Missouri 
Mouth  of  the  Yellow  Stone  September  the  8  1834  Being  always 
desirous  to  visit  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  not  being  able  to  sat- 
isfy my  curiosity  by  means  of  cash  I  was  oblidged  to  hire  to  M' 
Sublette  &  Campbell  has  [as]  a  common  hand  to  protect  there 


RECOMMENDATION  SECURED.  9 

I  first  provided  myself  with  a  good  recommenda- 
tion from  Major  Benjamin  O'Fallon,  who  was  well 
known  for  his  integrity,  and  would  give  no  one  a 
recommendation  unless  he  deserved  it.  Provided 
with  this  document  I  next  made  application  to  the 
American  Fur  Company,  which  was  then  carried  on 
by  P.  Chouteau  and  Co.     J.  J.  Astor  was  still  in  the 

goods  and  all  that  appertained  to  the  said  Sublette  and  Campbell 
to  the  risk  of  our  lives  indangered  by  Indians  and  all  other  axi- 
dents.  wee  left  the  City  of  Saint  Louis  on  the  13th  of  April  1 1833 1,'* 
etc. — the  date  interlined  and  framed  in  a  rectangle  to  make  it 
more  conspicuous,  as  here  printed.  Larpenteur  then  goes  on  to 
give  an  orderly  account  of  consecutive  incidents  as  they  occurred 
in  1833  and  1834,  till  he  thus  "  catches  up  "  to  his  date  of  writing 
in  1834.  As  his  memory  was  then  fresh,  and  as  there  is  no  break 
in  sequejice  of  events,  it  is  clear  that  1833  is  the  date  of  his  start 
from  St.  Louis — though  why  he  did  not  refresh  his  failing  mem- 
ory by  referring  to  his  own  Journal  can  hardly  be  imagined. 
Dates  are  infrequent  in  the  greater  part  of  the  Autobiography, 
but  toward  its  close  they  recur  regularly,  showing  that  Larpen- 
teur had  before  him  a  journal  of  these  later  years.  We  shall 
have  frequent  occasion  to  challenge  or  check  his  Autobiography, 
written  so  late  in  life,  by  means  of  his  old  Journals,  four  of 
which  I  possess;  and  shall  sometimes  weave  into  his  present 
narrative  materials  derived  from  the  same  authentic  sources. 

Our  start  in  1833  is  confirmed  by  various  other  data,  of  which 
I  select  two  :  i.  Bonneville  first  crossed  the  plains  in  1832,  win- 
tered 1832-33  in  the  mountains,  and  met  Larpenteur's  party  at 
the  Green  River  rendezvous  in  July,  1833.  2.  Larpenteur  in  his. 
Journal,  as  above,  accounts  continuously  for  events  of  1S33-34  to 
Nov.  30,  which  he  gives  as  date  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  I 
have  ascertained  was  visible  to  him  on  Nov.  30,  1834. 


10  AMERICAN  FUR  COxMPANY  DECLINED. 

company.  Mr.  J.  B.  Sarpy  was  at  the  time  the  person 
who  engaged  the  men.  As  I  was  young,  well  dressed, 
and  not  a  bad-looking  lad,  but  did  not  seem  to  be  very 
robust,  he  remarked  that  he  did  not  think  I  would 
answer  for  his  purposes.  I  then  showed  him  my 
document  from  the  major,  whom  we  both  knew  well, 
and  the  remark  he  made  was,  "  Ah,  if  you  had  not 
deserved  this,  you  would  not  have  gotten  it."  Then, 
said  he,  "you  are  a  Frenchman?"  I  replied  in  the 
affirmative.  "  You  have  some  education,"  he  con- 
tinued; "  why  do  you  want  to  engage  as  a  common 
hand?  "  I  then  told  him  that  my  desire  was  to  see 
the  Rocky  mountains,  that  I  was  willing  to  undergo 
all  the  hardships  of  such  a  voyage,  and  that  I  wished 
to  start  from  this  place  on  horseback.  He  then  re- 
ferred me  to  Messrs.  Sublette  and  Campbell,  saying 
that,  if  I  engaged  with  him,  I  should  have  to  go  as 
far  as  Fort  Pierre,"  and  there  start  for  the  mountains 
with  Mr.  Fontenelle.  Being  anxious  for  an  immedi- 
ate ride,  that  proposition  did  not  suit  me.  I  then 
went  to  the  office  of  Sublette  and  Co.,  which  firm  had 
bought  out  all  Gen.  Ashley's  interests  in  the  moun- 

"  Old  Fort  Pierre,  on  the  right  (west)  bank  of  the  Missouri,  3 
m.  above  the  mouth  of  Teton  or  Bad  river;  so  named  for  Pierre 
Chouteau,  Jr. — the  one  whom  Larpenteur  has  already  mentioned. 
The  locality  is  that  of  present  Pierre,  S.  Dak.,  which  takes  its 
name  from  the  long-noted  establishment  of  P.  Chouteau,  Jr. ,  and 
Co.,  otherwise  the  A.  F.  Co.:  see  L.  and  C,  ed.  1893,  p.  131. 


ROCKY   MT.   FUR  COMPANY  ACCEPTED.  II 

tains,  and  were  also  making  up  an  outfit  to  carry  on 
an  opposition  to  all  the  trading  posts  of  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Co.  on  the  Missouri;  but  I  did  not  know  this 
when  I  first  applied  to  them.  I  found  Mr.  Campbell 
in  his  store,  and  on  informing  him  of  my  intentions 
he  appeared  to  have  pretty  much  the  same  ideas  as 
]\Ir.  Sarpy.  I  soon  discovered  this  and  showed  him 
my  recommendation.  Being  very  much  of  a  gentle- 
man, he  had  the  politeness  to  invite  me  to  his  office, 
and  there  did  all  he  could  to  make  me  abandon  the 
idea  of  taking  such  a  trip,  giving  me  a  full  description 
of  what  I  should  be  likely  to  undergo.  But  nothing 
could  deter  me;  go  I  must,  and  under  the  promise 
that  he  should  never  hear  me  grumble,  I  signed  an 
article  of  agreement  for  i8  months,  for  the  sum  $296 
and  such  food  as  could  be  procured  in  the  Indian 
country — that  excluded  bread,  sugar,  and  coffee. 
Now  I  was  thus  enlisted,  ready  for  service;  but  Mr. 
Campbell  was  kind  to  me  and  always  did  his  best  to 
make  my  situation  pleasant.  So  he  employed  me  in 
St.  Louis  to  assist  in  packing  goods  for  the  upper 
country,  and  in  equipping  the  men  who  were  getting 
ready  to  leave  with  the  mules  for  Lexington,  Mo.,  to 
await  the  arrival  of  the  steamer  which  was  to  bring  all 
their  goods  up  to  that  point,  and  of  the  keel  boat 
which  was  intended  to  be  cordelled  or  towed  as  far 
as  Fort  Union  with  goods  for  the  Indian  trade.     I 


12  GOOD-BY  TO  CIVILIZATION. 

was  kept  in  the  store  until  all  the  outfits  had  left  St. 
Louis. 

April  yth,  i8s3-^^ — Now,  my  dear  reader,  my  mule 
is  saddled,  bridled,  and  hitched  at  the  store  in  Wash- 
ington avenue,  St.  Louis,  ready  to  take  me  to  Lexing- 
ton, to  join  the  party.  If  you  wish  to  sacrifice  all  the 
comforts  of  civil  life,  come  with  me  and  share  what  I 
shall  endure — but  no!  you  can  do  better  than  that. 
For  a  small  sum  wherewith  to  purchase  this  book 
you  can  know  it  all  without  leaving  your  comfortable 
room.  So  good-by  to  civilization — not  for  eighteen 
months,  but  for  forty  years. 

Myself  and  an  individual  by  the  name  of  Redman 
started  in  advance  of  Mr.  Campbell,  who  was  to  join 
us  at  St.  Charles.  After  we  had  been  there  two  days 
he  arrived  with  a  young  man  named  James  Lee,  and 
a  little  Snake  Indian  called  Friday,  who  had  been 
adopted  by  Mr.  Fitzpatrick,  a  trapper  in  the  moun- 
tains and  afterward  an  Indian  agent — for  which 
tribe  I  do  not  recollect.  I  shall  not  be  able  to  give 
exact  dates,  as  I  did  not  expect  to  ever  write  a  book; 
but  I  will  endeavor  to  come  as  near  as  possible.  We 
were  eight  days  on  our  journey  from  St.  Charles  to 

"  Copy  has  1832:  see  note  ",  p.  9,  where  it  appears  from  the 
Grig.  Joum.  that  Larpenteur  left  St.  Louis  Apr.  13,  1833.  The 
year  is  certain,  and  Apr.  13  is  probably  nearer  than  Apr.  7,  for 
the  Journal  goes  on  to  say  that  he  reached  Lexington  on  Apr.  10. 


ENCAMPED  AT   LEXINGTON.  1 3 

Lexington;  we  fared  extremely  well,  Mr.  Campbell 
having  treated  us  like  himself  wherever  we  put  up. 

On  the  1 8th  [or  20th]  of  April  we  reached  Lex- 
ington, where  we  found  our  party  camped  in  tents, 
awaiting  our  arrival.  There  the  sumptuous  fares 
were  all  over.  Mr.  Campbell  called  me  up  and  said, 
"  Charles,  I  will  now  assign  you  to  your  mess.  I  have 
a  mess  of  nine  first-rate  old  voyageurs — French  boys 
from  Cahokia — you  will  be  well  off  with  them."  I 
was  not  quite  a  stranger  to  them,  having  formed  ac- 
quaintance with  some  of  them  before  leaving  St. 
Louis;  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  they  did  all  they 
could  for  me  as  long  as  I  remained  with  them.  None 
of  those  men  had  any  education,  and  would  frequently 
remark  that  if  I  took  care  of  myself  I  could  get  into 
good  business.  Our  fare  during  our  stay  at  Lexing- 
ton was  not  bad;  we  drew  rations  like  soldiers,  and 
having  yet  a  little  pocket  money  we  could  add  to  our 
provisions  considerably.  As  to  our  bedding,  it  was 
not  very  soft,  for  we  were  not  allowed  to  carry  more 
than  one  pair  of  3-pound  ^^  blankets.    A  few  days  after 

"  More  commonly  called  "i-point  blankets  by  traders  and 
trappers  whose  narratives  I  have  read.  The  "point"  was  a 
short  black  stripe,  about  four  inches  long,  woven  into  the  Mack- 
inaw blanket  to  indicate  its  weight ;  a  3-pound  blanket  had  three 
such  stripes.  So  a  point  was  a  pound  in  blankets,  just  as  in 
cooking  recipes  "  a  pint's  a  pound,  the  world  round." 

As  to  the  mule-packs  of  which  Larpenteur  goes  on  to  speak,  his 


14  THE  MATTER  OF  MULES. 

our  arrival  mules  were  given  to  each  of  us — two  to 
pack  and  one  to  ride.  Mr.  Campbell  gave  me  his 
favorite  mule  Simon  to  ride;  old  Simon  was  not  so 
kind  that  he  would  not  buck  me  off  his  back  when  he 
took  a  notion  to  do  so,  but  on  the  whole  was  a  good 
fellow  in  comparison  with  many  others.  My  two 
pack  mules  were  very  gentle,  but  would  kick  off  their 
packs  sometimes.  My  two  loads  consisted  of  beaver 
traps  and  a  small  top  pack — a  choice  load,  not  likely 
to  turn  over  like  dry  goods.  As  I  was  a  green  hand 
my  mates  assisted  me  a  great  deal,  and  I  was  always 
thankful  to  them  for  it. 

Journal  is  more  explicit.  "  On  the  28th,"  it  says,  "  Our  names 
were  taken  and  our  load  given  us,  consisting  of  liquor  Guns 
Powder  led  Blanket,  Pantaloons  Shirts  capos  [capotes]  Beaver 
Traps  and  many  other  artikals  too  numerous  to  mention.  Three 
Mules  were  g^ven  me,  one  for  my  rideing  Animal  and  the  two 
others  for  packing,  my  loads  consisted  of  traps  raisins  choco- 
latte." 


CHAPTER  11. 
(1833-) 

OVER  THE  PLAINS  TO  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS. 

On  the  12th  of  May  ^  we  took  our  departure  for  the 
mountains,  and  at  the  same  time  the  keel  boat 
left  Lexington  landing,  manned  by  thirty  men 
with  the  cordell  on  their  shoulders,  some  of  them  for 
the  distance  of  about  1800  miles.  Our  party  con- 
sisted of  40  ^  enlisted  men ;  Robert  Campbell,  boss  in 
charge;  Louis  Vasquez,  an  old  mountain  man;  Mr. 
Johnesse,  a  clerk  in  charge  of  the  men,  whose  place  it 

'  Date  in  question:  Orig.  Joum.  makes  the  start  from  Lexing- 
ton Apr.  28,  "on  the  same  day  "  the  mule-packs  were  made  up 
and  given  out.  The  first  day  out  they  traveled  only  5  m.,  and 
then  waited  3  days  for  Mr.  Sublette,  who  was  coming  in  a  steam- 
boat that  was  to  tow  the  keel  boat  as  far  as  Liberty,  Mo.  "  On 
the  7th  of  May  we  left  the  Settlements  and  on  the  9th  at  knight 
was  the  first  knight  wee  stood  ^ard."  etc.  Some  of  the  dis- 
crepancy is  evidently  due  to  difference  in  date  of  leaving  Lex- 
ington and  of  finally  clearing  out  from  the  last  settlement. 

*  Orig.  Journ.  agrees  nearly,  saying:  "Our  number  was  45, 
which  was  divided  into  nine  guards  four  at  a  relief  and  one  offi- 
cer which  made  nine  officers  of  which  I  was  one,"  etc. 


l6  HARD  TIMES  BEGIN. 

was  to  remain  in  the  rear  to  aid  in  readjusting  the 
loads,  which  would  get  out  of  order,  and  to  have  an 
eye  to  the  whole  cavalcade.  As  guests,^  were  Cap- 
tain Stewart  from  England,  on  a  pleasure  trip;  old 
General  Harrison's  son,  with  the  view  to  break  him 
from  drinking  whiskey ;  and  Mr.  Edmund  Christy,  of 
St.  Louis. 

Now  hard  times  commenced.  At  first  the  mules 
kicking  oflf  packs  and  running  away  was  amusing  for 
those  who  were  all  right,  but  mighty  disagreeable  for 
the  poor  fellows  who  were  out  of  luck.     I  had  my 

'  Beckwourth  says  of  this  party,  whom  he  met  near  the  Big- 
horn river:  "  I  was  introduced  to  a  Captain  Stuart,  who  had 
figfured  conspicuously,  as  I  was  informed,  under  the  Iron  Duke, 
and  was  now  travelling  in  the  far  West  in  pursuit  of  adventure; 
also  to  a  Dr.  Harrison,  son  of  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  and  to  a 
Mr.  Broth erton,  with  several  other  gentlemen,  who  were  all  tak- 
ing a  pleasure  excursion,"  Autobiog^.,  2d  ed.,  1892,  p.  226. 
Captain  or  Sir  William  Stuart's  estate,  called  Murthly  Castle,  was 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Tay  in  Perthshire,  Scotland,  running 
about  4  miles  down  river  from  the  gates  of  Dunkeld.  In  1862  the 
castle  was  rented  to  Mr.  Robert  Graham  of  Glasgow,  and  Sir 
William  lived  at  what  was  known  as  the  Cottage,  a  pretty  house 
filled  with  Indian  trophies  and  other  curios,  overlooking  the  Tay, 
about  halfway  between  the  Castle  and  Dunkeld,  Mr.  Maurice 
Kingsley  of  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.,  who  gives  in  these  particulars 
in  lit.,  Jan.  18, 1898.  adds  that  he  well  remembers  Sir  William  in 
1862-65,  when  the  nobleman  must  have  been  about  70  years  of 
age— ^slightly  over  middle  height,  a  trifle  bent,  spare  but  broad- 
shouldered,  with  long  thin  hair  almost  white,  square  face  and 
restless  grayish -blue  eyes — very  active  still,  though  gouty  and 


POOR  FARE.  17 

share  of  this,  but  it  was  not  to  be  compared  with  the 
troubles  of  some  of  my  comrades.  This  kind  of  kick- 
ing up  lasted  three  or  four  days  in  full  blast;  it  finally 
subsided,  yet  there  would  be  a  runaway  almost  every 
day.  Our  fare  consisted  of  bacon  and  hard-tack — no 
sugar  nor  coffee — for  three  or  four  days,  after  which 
we  each  received  a  small  piece  of  sheep  meat,  as  we 
had  a  drove  *  to  last  us  until  we  got  into  the  buffalo. 
AVhile  the  sheep  lasted  we  had  but  that  alone.  I  then 
commenced  to  think  that  what  Mr.  Campbell  had  re- 
irascible.  He  published  a  book  about  his  adventures,  the  title 
of  which  is  one  of  a  great  many  things  I  do  not  know. 

"  Old  General  Harrison's  son,"  whom  Larpenteur  character- 
izes so  tersely,  was  Dr.  Benjamin  Harrison,  son  of  "William 
Henry  Harrison,  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  and  ninth  President  of  the 
U.  S.,  Mar.  4-Apr.  4,  1841.  On  appljring  to  ex- President  Benja- 
min  Harrison  for  further  information,  I  was  favored  with  the 
following  letter,  dated  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Dec.  6,  1897:  "My 
Dear  Sir:  I  have  your  letter  of  Dec.  2.  I  had  an  uncle.  Dr. 
Benjamin  Harrison,  who  died  when  I  was  a  lad.  I  have  only  a 
faint  remembrance  of  him.  He  was  of  a  wild  and  adventurous 
disposition,  participated,  I  think,  in  the  Texas  war  of  independ- 
ence, and  in  a  good  many  other  frontier  scrapes,  but  I  have  no 
particular  knowledge  of  the  events  of  his  life.  .  .  Very  truly 
yours,  Benjamin  Harrison." 

*  Orig.  Joum.  has:  "  the  provisions  we  had  consisted  in  twenty 
sheeps  two  loads  of  Bacon  500  weight  of  com  meal  which  was 
intended  to  eat  until  we  got  to  the  Buffello  this  food  to  be  eaten 
without  bread  was  not  very  rellishing  when  I  came  to  be  wnead 
[weaned]  of  bread  I  found  that  I  Should  soon  be  satisfyed  of  my 
trip" — /.  e.t  would  soon  have  enough  of  it,  with  such  poor  fare. 


I8  GUARD  DUTY. 

marked  was  on  the  march,'  About  a  week  after  we 
had  been  under  march  the  guard  was  established,  and 
I  was  appointed  an  officer.  It  became  the  duty  of  the 
officer  every  third  day  to  post  his  men  around  the 
camp,  as  soon  as  all  the  animals  were  brought  in  and 
picketed  in  the  circle  of  the  camp;  those  men  were  to 
remain  quite  still  at  their  stations;  the  officer  was  to 
cry  out  "  All's  well  "  every  20  minutes,  and  the  men 
to  cry  out  the  same,  so  as  to  find  out  whether  they 
were  asleep  or  awake.  Should  any  one  fail  to  reply, 
it  was  then  the  duty  of  the  officer  to  go  the  rounds  to 
find  out  the  individual,  and  if  caught  asleep  to  take  his 
gun  to  the  boss'  tent;  then  in  the  morning  he  would 
be  informed  of  what  he  had  to  undergo,  which  was  a 
$5  fine  and  three  walks.*  The  men  on  guard  were 
not  permitted  to  move  from  their  stations,  as  it  was 
considered  dangerous  on  account  of  Indians  being 
known  to  creep  up  to  camp  and  watch  to  shoot  some- 
one whom  they  could  discover  strolling  about;  so  the 
officer  was  more  in  danger  than  his  men.  The  usual 
time  of  guard  was  2^  hours.  Having  traveled  all  day„ 
being  obliged  to  remain  quiet  at  one's  post  was  very 
trying  on  the  sleeping  organs,  and  consequently  there 
would  be  some  poor  fellow  trudging  along  on  foot 

*  Meaning  that  what  Mr.  Campbell  had  said  would  happen  was 
happening. 

•  That  is,  to  go  afoot  for  three  days. 


ON  THE  PLATTE — FIRST  BUFFALO.  I9 

almost  every  day.  Our  route,  as  well  as  I  can  re- 
member, crossed  the  Little  and  Big  Blue  rivers  and 
continued  along-  the  south  side  of  the  Platte.'  I  com- 
plained, as  my  messmates  did,  of  the  sheep  meat,  but 
they  consoled  me  as  well  as  themselves  by  speaking  of 
the  fine  feast  we  soon  would  have  on  the  buffalo,  which 
they  said  they  would  prefer  to  all  the  good  messes 
that  could  be  gotten  up  in  the  States.  Three  days 
after  we  had  reached  the  Platte  the  hunters  brought 
in  one  evening  a  load  of  meat;  but  the  cry  of  "  buffalo 
meat !  "  was  heard  long  before  they  came  in,  and  there 
was  great  rejoicement  in  camp.  Sheep  meat  could 
be  had  very  cheap  that  evening,  and  it  was  amusing 
to  see  the  cooks  hunting  their  kettles — some  cursing 
them  for  being  too  small,  as  though  it  was  the  poor 
kettle's  fault  for  its  size;  but  it  was  not  long  before 
they  found  the  kettles  were  large  enough.  Then 
came  trouble — there  was  no  wood  to  be  found  about 
camp,  and  all  the  fuel  we  could  obtain  was  the  stalks 
of  some  large  dried  weeds,  the  wild  sunflower.     Now 

'  But  crossed  the  Kansas  before  reaching  the  Platte,  as  the  party 
were  on  the  regular  Oregon  Trail.  The  Orig.  Joum.  says:  "  the 
first  river  of  any  consiquence  that  we  crossed  was  the  Caw  river 
where  there  is  an  agensey  for  the  Caw  Indians  which  is  kept  by 
General  Clark  relation  of  old  General  Clark,  superintendent  of 
the  Indian  affaires  in  St.  Louis."  Journ.  further  states  that  they 
crossed  the  Kansas  May  15;  camped  there  i6th  and  17th; 
decamped  i8th;  reached  the  Platte  23d;  and  continued  on  24th. 


20  BOILED  BULL  BEEF. 

and  then  some  hungry  fellow  would  bring  in  a  small 
armful  of  that  kind  of  fuel,  and  his  first  words  would 
be,  "  Is  the  kettle  boiling?  "  Upon  being  answered 
in  the  negative  a  long  string  of  bad  expressions  would 
be  heard,  the  mildest  being,  "  Waugh!  I  believe  that 
damned  kettle  won't  never  boil! "  Thanks  to  the 
virtue  of  sunflower  stalks,  however,  it  boiled  at  last, 
and  every  countenance  became  pleasant  at  the 
thought  of  tasting  that  much-talked-of  buffalo  meat. 
iWhen  it  was  thought  cooked  by  the  old  voyageurs, 
preparations  were  made  to  dish  it  out;  but,  as  we  had 
no  pans,  a  clean  place  was  looked  for  on  the  grass, 
and  the  contents  of  the  kettle  were  poured  out.  All 
hands  seated  around  the  pile  hauled  out  their  long 
butcher  knives,  opened  their  little  sacks  of  salt,  and 
then  began  operations.  But  it  was  not  long  before 
bad  expressions  were  again  used  in  regard  to  the 
highly  praised  quality  of  buffalo  meat.  "  I  can't  chew 
it "— "  Tougher'n  whalebone  "— "  If  that's  the  stuff 
we've  got  to  live  on  for  eighteen  months,  God  have 
mercy  on  us! "  For  my  part  I  thought  about  the 
same,  but  said  nothing;  and  after  I  had  chewed  as 
long  as  I  could  without  being  able  to  get  it  in  swal- 
lowing condition,  I  would  seize  an  opportunity  to 
spit  it  into  my  hand,  and  throw  it  out  unseen  behind 
me.  My  comrades  asked  me  how  I  liked  buffalo 
meat;  I  replied  I  thought  it  might  be  some  better 


FROM  POOR  BULL  TO  FAT  COW.        21 

than  it  was,  and  they  said,  "  Never  mind,  Larpenteur; 
wait  until  we  get  among  the  fat  cows — then  you  will 
see  the  difference."  *  At  this  time  of  the  year,  in  the 
early  part  of  June,  the  cows  are  not  fit  to  kill;  for 
they  have  their  young  calves,  and  are  very  poor. 
For  several  days  after  this  sheep  meat  would  have 
kept  up  its  price,  and  perhaps  would  have  risen  in 
value;  but  none  was  allowed  to  come  into  market, 
what  little  there  was  being  reserved  for  the  boss'  mess. 
So  we  had  to  go  it  on  buffalo  alone;  but,  thank  Provi- 
dence! we  soon  got  into  fine  fat  cows,  and  fared  well. 
My  comrades  had  told  me  that  we  should  now  get  a 
sickness  called  by  them  le  mal  de  vache ";  it  is  a  dysen- 
tery caused  by  eating  too  much  fat  meat  alone,  and 
some  are  known  to  have  died  of  it.  So  it  was  not 
long  after  we  fared  so  well  on  the  fat  of  the  land  that 
very  bad  expressions  were  used  in  reference  to  living 
on  meat  alone. 

I  cannot  say  that  anything  of  preat  importance 
took  place  during  our  journey  to  the  rendezvous;  but 
nowadays,  when  we  have  a  great  deal  to  say  in  the 
newspapers  about  traveling  from  Sioux  City  to  Fort 
Randall,  I  think  that  I  may  indulge  in  a  few  more 

*  Out  West,  instead  of  sajring  "  to  know  B  from  a  bull's  foot," 
they  have  it,  "  to  know  poor  bull  from  fat  cow,"  as  a  criterion  of 
discernment. 

•  Literally  "cow-sickness." 


22  THE  NORTH   PLATTE — CHIMNEY   ROCK. 

remarks  before  I  reach  Green  river/"  After  crossing 
the  South  fork  of  the  Platte,  the  only  curiosity  of 
note  is  Chimney  Rock  ";  that  part  of  the  country  is 

'»  Larpenteur  will  be  found  on  acquaintance  to  have  a  dry 
humor,  and  a  sly  satire,  in  a  good  many  things  he  says,  not 
always  evident  at  first  sight.  There  was  no  Sioux  City,  la.,  till 
about  the  middle  of  the  50's;  Fort  Randall,  S.  D.,  was  not  estab- 
lished till  1856;  the  railroad  only  pushed  into  the  former  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1868;  and  the  distance  between  the  two  places,  about  175 
miles  by  boat,  much  less  by  land,  was  of  course  a  mere  jaunt  in 
comparison  with  the  journey  our  author  was  making  in  1833  to 
the  rendezvous  on  Green  river,  one  of  the  two  main  forks  of  the 
Colorado  of  the  West,  beyond  the  Continental  Divide.  In  the  fall 
of  1872  I  reached  Sioux  City  by  rail,  but  took  a  steamboat  on  the 
Missouri  to  Fort  Randall,  to  which  post  I  had  been  ordered  as  its 
medical  officer;  I  was  about  three  days  on  the  boat,  Oct.  15-18. 

"  Having  come  up  the  main  Platte,  crossed  the  S.  Platte  at  the 
forks,  and  continued  up  the  N.  Platte,  the  party  has  reached 
this  long-famous  landmark,  on  the  S.  side  of  the  river,  in  Chey- 
enne Co. ,  Neb.  It  was  one  of  several  less  conspicuous  mounds 
at  isolated  points  along  both  sides  of  the  river,  not  far  below 
Scott's  bluffs.  The  Orig.  Journ.  describes  it  as  "a  kind  of  nat- 
ural monument  which  the  travellers  calls  the  chimney  it  is  seen 
in  clear  weather  from  the  distance  of  three  or  four  days  travel  it 
represents  pricizely  a  chimney  the  base  of  it  is  in  the  shape  of  a 
square  pointed  roof  and  from  the  midst  of  this  roof  the  chimney 
puts  out  from  about  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet  higl;i  and  appears 
to  be  something  like  100  feet  high."  This  is  a  much  more  reason- 
able estimate  than  was  often  given  of  the  height,  some  calling  it 
upward  of  500  feet.  There  is  a  picture  of  it  on  the  full-page 
plate  opp.  p.  38  of  the  Senate  ed.  of  Fremont's  Exped.  of  1842,  pub. 
1845 ;  at  which  date  Mr.  Charles  Preuss  says  the  marl  and 
earthy  limestone  of  the  chimney  were  rapidly  wearing  away,  the 
whole  formation  being  not  over  200  feet  above  the  river. 


LARAMIE.  23 

too  well  known  at  present  for  me  to  enter  into  any 
description  of  it.  From  this  point  to  La  Ramie's  " 
fort  nothing  took  place  worth  mentioning  except  the 

"  The  personality  of  this  name  is  now  well-nigh  forgotten,  in 
speaking  of  Fort  Laramie,  Laramie  river,  Laramie  plains,  Lara- 
mie peak,  and  Laramie  Co.,  Neb.  La  Ramie  or  Laramie  (full 
name  not  at  hand  as  I  write)  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  Canadian 
French  voyageurs  or  coureurs  de  bois  to  hunt  and  trap  beaver  in 
this  part  of  the  world,  and  was  killed  by  Arapahoes  somewhere 
about  the  headwaters  of  the  stream  which  thenceforth  has  borne 
his  name.  In  the  course  of  time  there  have  been  several  differ- 
ent establishments  about  the  mouth  of  Laramie  river,  which 
finally  became  a  long  and  well-known  military  reservation  of 
over  50  sq.  m.  We  find  Larpenteur  speaking  of  La  Ramie's 
"  fort  "  in  1833;  but  that  i&ex post  dido  ;  his  Joum.  simply  speaks 
of  fourche  la  Ramie,  which  he  crossed  on  a  raft  of  cottonwoods, 
and  his  present  words  mean  simply  the  site  of  the  subsequent 
establishment.  I  may  also  mention  that  J.  K.  Townsend,  with 
the  Wyeth  expedition  of  1834,  speaks  of  crossing  Laramie  fork 
on  June  i,  when  there  was  nothing  on  the  spot.  The  first  post 
appears  to  have  been  built  that  year,  1834,  by  Wm.  Sublette  and 
Robert  Campbell;  this  was  a  mere  stockade  of  logs,  with  small 
bastions  on  two  diagonal  comers,  and  the  usual  living  rooms 
inside;  it  stood  on  the  very  site  of  the  future  U.  S.  Fort  Laramie, 
on  the  W.  bank  of  Laramie  river,  i^  m.  above  its  mouth. 
Irving's  Bonneville  says  that  it  was  "  about  three  years  "  after 
1832  that  Mr.  Robert  Campbell  built  the  first  post  at  Laramie, 
"which  he  named  Fort  William,  after  his  friend  and  partner, 
Mr.  William  Sublette,"  no  doubt  referring  to  the  same  original 
log  stockade  of  1834,  whose  name  of  Fort  William  must  have 
speedily  lapsed,  if  indeed  it  was  ever  current.  In  1835  it  was 
bought  by  Milton  Sublette,  "Jim"  Bridger,  and  others,  who 
went  into  business  with  the  A.  F.  Co.,  and  it  immediately  became 
a  rendezvous  for  Oglala  Sioux,  under  the  name  of  Fort  John. 


24  KICKING  AGAINST  THE  PRICKS. 

overthrow  of  our  long  friend  Marsh.  It  happened 
that,  in  traveling  through  a  countrv  thickly  settled 
with  prickly  pears,  bad  luck  would  have  it  that  a  small 
particle  of  one  accidentally  found  itself  under  the  tail 
of  his  riding  mule.  The  poor  animal,  finding  itself 
so  badly  pricked,  kicked  and  bucked  at  such  a  rate 
that  our  long  friend  was  soon  unsaddled,  and  thrown 
flat  on  his  back  in  a  large  bunch  of  the  prickly  pears. 

By  1836  the  pickets  were  rotting,  and  the  A.  F.  Co.  replaced  the 
original  stockade  with  an  adobe  structure,  the  last  traces  of 
which  did  not  disappear  till  1862.  With  the  old  pickets  also  went 
the  name  Fort  John,  and  Fort  Laramie  the  post  was  always 
afterward.  It  was  held  by  the  A.  F.  Co.  till  1849,  when  it  was 
sold  to  the  U.  S.  government,  and  became  a  military  post  in  July 
of  that  year,  when  it  was  garrisoned  by  Companies  C  and  D  of 
the  Mounted  Rifles  under  Maj.  Winslow  F,  Sanderson,  who  had 
attained  his  majority  on  Jan,  8  of  the  previous  year,  and  died 
Sept.  16,  1853;  Capt.  (afterward  Gen.)  William  Scott  Ketchum 
came  with  Co.  G  of  the  Sixth  Infantry  in  August  of  the  same  year 
(1849).  How  important  a  place  Fort  Laramie  was  in  those  years, 
and  for  long  subsequently,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  in 
1850  wagon-trains  and  other  outfits  representing  an  aggregate  of 
40,000  animals  crossed  Laramie  river  below  the  fort.  I  have  in 
hand  an  unpublished  sketch  of  Fort  John ;  a  plate  of  the  adobe 
Fort  Laramie  of  X842  faces  p.  40  of  Fremont's  Report,  already 
cited.  It  would  be  idle  to  attempt  to  cite  the  references  to  Fort 
Laramie  which  incessantly  recur  in  books,  but  I  may  mention 
that  it  was  a  sort  of  hdqrs.  for  the  future  celebrated  historian 
Francis  Parkman,  when,  fresh  from  college,  he  was  knocking 
about  among  the  Indians,  and  making  materials  for  his  Oregon 
Trail — not  one  of  his  works  upon  which  his  fame  rests  most 
securely.    The  best  account  of  the  military  post,  as  it  was  late  in 


A    GOOD   SAMARITAN.  2% 

Although  he  was  over  six  feet  in  his  stockings,  the 
length  of  his  limbs  was  not  enough  to  reach  out  of 
the  patch;  and  there  he  lay,  begging  for  pity's  sake 
of  his  comrades,  as  they  passed  by,  to  help  him  out  of 
his  prickly  situation.  But  all  he  heard  in  reply  to  his 
entreaties  was  bursts  of  laughter  throughout  the 
company  as  they  passed  by,  till  he  was  relieved  by  Mr. 
Johnesse,"  who  had  charge  of  the  rear.     I  could  but 

the  6o's,  is  by  Dr.  H.  S.  Schell,  U.  S.  A.,  in  Circular  No.  4,  War 
Dept.,  Surgeon  General's  Office,  Washington,  Dec.  5,  1870,  pp. 
345-350,  whence  I  derive  some  of  the  data  of  this  note. 

'*  I  fear  this  good  Samaritan  who  brought  up  the  rear  and  did 
not  pass  by  on  the  other  side  must  remain  anonymous  or  pseu- 
donymous, as  far  as  his  editor  is  concerned.  He  seems  to  be  the 
Antoine  Jeanisse  of  note  ',  p.  52  ;  but  such  a  name  varies  from 
Jeunesse  to  Johnson  in  the  MSS.  before  me,  and  I  can  make 
nothing  of  it.  Compare  one  Auguste  Janisse  of  Fremont's  list 
of  his  men,  Exped.  of  1842,  p.  9. 

Larpenteur  is  too  much  concerned  for  his  poor  friend  Marsh's, 
plight  to  give  some  other  particulars  which  belong  here,  as  I  find 
by  his  Grig.  Journ.  On  crossing  La  Fourche  de  La  Ramie  and 
traveling  5  or  6  m.  to  camp  on  the  N.  Platte,  it  appears  that 
"  they  was  three  gentlemen  which  made  there  appearance  in  ta 
our  camp  of  which  one  of  them  was  mr.  Frap  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  mr.  Fitz  Patrick  trarping  company  which  was  going  to 
St  Louis  to  purchase  goods  with  the  intention  to  return  to  the 
Mountains  in  the  fall,  the  following  day  we  moved  camp  about 
half  a  mile  where  we  remained  two  days  during  that  time  mr 
Frap  maid  some  agreements  with  mr  Campbell  on  which  he 
bought  the  outfit  with  the  exeption  of  ten  mules  and  ten  Barrills 
of  liquor  and  two  bales  of  goods."  This  Mr.  Frapp  was  a  well- 
known  person  in  the  business  for  many  years,  though  less  noted 


26  BULL-BOATS. 

pity  the  poor  fellow,  but,  at  the  same  time,  his  situa- 
tion excited  mirth.  There  he  lay  in  a  large  bunch  of 
prickly  pears,  stretched  out  as  though  he  had  been 
crucified.  Poor  Marsh!  I  shall  remember  him  as 
long  as  I  live. 

On  approaching  La  Ramie's  river  we  discovered 
three  large  buflfaloes  lying  dead  close  together.  The 
party  was  ordered  to  stop  and  form  in  double  line, 
while  the  hunters  were  gone  to  find  out  the  cause  of 
those  buffaloes'  deaths,  surmising  that  they  had  been 
killed  by  Indians.  They  were  gone  but  a  little  while 
before  they  returned,  reporting  that  the  animals  had 
been  killed  by  lightning  during  a  storm  we  had  the 
previous  day;  so  our  fears  of  Indians  were  removed, 
and  the  party  resumed  their  march.  We  soon 
reached  the  [Laramie]  river,  where  we  were  ordered 
to  dismount  and  go  to  work  making  a  boat  out  of  the 
hides  of  the  bufifalo— quite  a  new  kind  of  boat "  to 

than  Fitzpatrick  the  Broken  Hand.  Fr6mont,  p.  40,  has  this 
item  concerning  him:  "  For  several  years  the  Cheyennes  and 
Sioux  had  g^radually  become  more  and  more  hostile  to  the  whites, 
and  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  1841,  had  had  a  rather  severe 
engagement  with  a  party  of  six  whites,  under  the  command  of 
Mr.  Frapp,  of  St.  Louis.  The  Indians  lost  eight  or  ten  warriors, 
and  the  whites  had  their  leader  and  four  men  killed.  This  fight 
took  place  on  the  waters  of  Snake  river,  and  it  was  this  party,  on 
their  return  under  Mr.  Bridger,  which  had  spread  so  much  alarm 
among  my  people." 

"  This  was  the  ordinary  "  bull-boat,"  as  it  is  called,  made  of 
hides  stretched  over  a  light  framework  of  sticks,  of  circular 


THE   USUAL  ORGIES.  2/ 

me.  But  the  boat  was  made,  and  the  party  with  all 
the  goods  were  crossed  over  by  sunset.  The  next 
day,  or  the  day  after,  according  to  custom  Mr.  Camp- 
bell sent  Mr.  Vasquez  with  two  men  to  hunt  up  some 
trappers,  in  order  to  find  out  where  the  rendezvous 
would  be,  and  we  awaited  their  return  at  this  place. 
They  were  gone  eight  days,  which  time  we  enjoyed 
in  hunting  and  feasting  on  the  best  of  buffalo  meat. 
On  the  arrival  of  the  trappers  and  hunters  "  a  big 
drunken  spree  took  place.  Our  boss,  who  was  a 
good  one,  and  did  not  like  to  be  backward  in  such 
things,  I  saw  flat  on  his  belly  on  the  green  grass,  pour- 
ing out  what  he  could  not  hold  in.  Early  next  morn- 
ing everything  was  right  again,  and  orders  were  given 

shape,  like  a  g^reat  clothes-basket  or  deep  saucer.  Such  a  boat 
was  in  regular  use  by  the  Indians,  and  is  described  and  figured 
by  many  authors.  A  specimen  may  be  seen  in  the  U.  S.  National 
Museum,  to  the  fishery  exhibit  of  which  it  was  contributed  some 
years  ago  by  Dr.  Matthews.  I  think  that  this  is  the  one  figured 
in  the  late  Dr.  Charles  Rau's  Prehistoric  Fishing.  It  is  not  so 
well  made  as  some  I  have  seen  on  the  upper  Missouri.  The 
original  exploration  of  the  Yellowstone  in  1806  was  made  in  bull- 
boats:  see  L.  and  C.  ed.,  1893,  p.  1172. 

'*  Orig.  Journ.  has  :  "  Mr.  Campbell  had  sent  for  Mr  Fitz 
Patrick  to  come  and  receive  his  goods  at  a  place  near  the  Black 
Hills  the  place  appointed  for  the  randezvous.  .  .  We  remained 
three  days  at  the  randezvous  after  which  time  Mr  Fitz  Patrick 
arived  with  three  men  and  six  mules  loaded  with  Beaver  the  fol- 
lowing day  they  settled  all  their  affairs  and  started  Mr  Frap 
with  a  party  of  ten  men  to  go  and  trap  amongst  the  Black  Hills 
we  also  left  our  camp,"  etc. 


28  SOUTH  PASS  OF  CONTINENTAL  DIVIDE. 

to  catch   Up   and   start.     Everything  moved   quite 
smoothly  until  we  reached  the  Divide/'  where  my 

"  The  Continental  Divide,  at  South  Pass,  near  the  head  of 
Sweetwater  river,  July  2,  1833.  Grig,  Joum.  is  much  more 
explicit  than  the  above  meager  text.  After  continuing  up  the 
N.  Platte  some  distance  (not  given)  from  Laramie,  the  party 
passed  over  to  the  Sweetwater  by  a  route  a  little  off  the  Platte, 
and  reached  the  former  river  at  or  near  the  famous  Independ- 
ence Rock,  so  frequently  mentioned  in  books  of  Western  travel 
and  adventure.  "  The  ordinary  road  leaves  the  Platte,  and 
crosses  over  to  the  Sweet  Water  river,  which  it  strikes  near  Rock 
Independence,"  Fremont,  p.  54.  Grig.  Journ.  describes  the 
rock  with  some  particularity.  Five  m.  above  it  is  the  curious 
formation  known  as  the  Devil's  Gate,  where  the  river  runs 
through  a  narrow  opening,  300  yards  long,  35  yards  wide,  and 
400  feet  deep:  plate  of  the  Gate  in  Fremont,  opp.  p.  57.  This 
appears  to  be  the  place  that  was  origfinally  called  "  The  Fiery 
Narrows"  by  the  incoming  Astorian  overlanders.  Get.  31,  1812: 
see  this  date  in  Irving's  Astoria,  chap,  xlviii.  This  party  of 
seven  persons  descended  the  Sweetwater  part  way,  having  prob- 
ably struck  it  below  its  upper  caSon;  they  were  the  first  of  whom 
we  have  any  account  as  being  on  this  river,  long  before  it 
received  its  present  name. 

In  my  Henry  Joum.,  1897,  pp.  884,  885,  where  I  discussed  the 
route  of  these  Astorians,  I  was  inclined  to  bring  them  through 
South  Pass  and  thus  down  the  whole  of  the  Sweetwater.  But  in 
a  review  of  Astoria  which  appeared  in  the  N.  Y.  Nation  of  Dec. 
23,  1897,  I  say:  "  Attentive  reconsideration  of  this  point  inducer 
us  to  fetch  them  from  Green  River  about  south-southeast  to  very 
near  South  Pass — perhaps  within  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  of  it — 
when  they  wandered  off  the  Indian  trail  which  would  have 
brought  them  through  this  pass,  and  kept  about  southeast  until 
they  had  headed  the  Sweetwater  entirely.  They  then  struck 
east,  south  of  that  river,  and  finally  fell  on  it  lower  down— per- 


devil's   gate,    SWEEIWATER    RIVER.    WYOMING. 


A  FUGACIOUS  TRINITY.  29 

faithful  old  Simon — I  may  say  the  whole  trinity — 
played  out  on  me."  About  two  hours  before  camping 
time  the  pack  of  one  of  my  mules  got  so  much  out  of 
order  that  I  was  obliged  to  stop  to  lash  it  again.  Mr. 
Simon,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  waiting  for  me  on 
occasions  of  that  kind,  changed  his  notion  and  took 
it  into  his  head  to  follow  the  party  without  me;  the 
well-packed  one  followed  suit,  and  it  was  all  I  could 
do  to  prevent  the  third  one  from  leaving  before  get- 
ting his  pack  on;  but  as  soon  as  that  was  done  the 
gentleman  took  to  his  heels,  and  all  three  got  into 
camp  about  an  hour  before  me.  The  want  of  Simon 
was  the  cause  of  my  being  obliged  to  wade  a  small 
creek — tributary  to  the  Sweetwater — which  was  very 
cold,  although  it  was  the  2d  of  July.  I  was  wet  up  to 
my  waist,  and  it  was  my  guard  late  that  night.    When 

haps  via  Whiskey  [or  Muddy]  Gap,  between  the  Green  and  the 
Seminole  Mountains."  It  is  due  to  Capt.  H.  M.  Chittenden  to 
say  that  this  modification  of  my  view  resulted  from  his  criticism, 
during  correspondence  which  we  had  upon  the  whole  subject 
of  the  overland  Astorian  routes.  Capt.  Chittenden  has  lately 
favored  me  with  the  blue  print  of  a  map  on  which  he  locates  the 
main  winter  camp  of  the  incoming  Astorians  in  the  bend  of  the 
N.  Platte  at  Poison  Spider  creek,  a  little  above  Casper,  Wyo. 

Larpenteur's  Joum.  states  that  his  party  ascended  the  Sweet- 
water for  six  days,  and  that  "  on  the  second  of  July  we  arived  on 
the  Divide  where  we  encamped." 

"  His  riding-mule  and  two  pack-mules  composed  the  "  whole 
trinity."    Perhaps  he  forgot  to  put  on  the  blinders! 


30  GREEN  RIVER  RENDEZVOUS. 

I  was  wakened  to  go  on  guard  my  clothes  were  still 
wet,  and  on  that  morning,  the  3d  of  July,  water 
froze  in  our  kettles  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick. 
I  felt  quite  chilly  and  was  sick  for  about  eight  days. 
As  near  as  I  can  remember  we  reached  the  rendez- 
vous on  Green  river  on  the  8th  of  July.^*     There 

'*Orig.  Journ.  has:  "On  the  fifth  [of  July]  we  arived  to  the 
randezvous  which  was  on  the  ques  qui  di  river  near  Mr,  Barna- 
villes  Fort  which  is  supposed  [writing  in  1834]  to  have  been 
distroyed  by  the  Black  Feet."  The  author's  "  Quesquidi "  is 
Green  river,  the  principal  fork  of  the  Colorado;  the  Crow  Indian 
name  has  uncounted  variants  in  spelling,  among  which  I  have 
noticed  Siskadee,  Siskede-azzeah,  Sheetskadee,  and  Seedskedee- 
agie;  the  word  is  said  to  mean  Prairie-hen  river  (with  reference 
to  the  sage  grouse,  Centrocercus  urophasianus).  Our  name, 
Green  river,  translates  Rio  Verde  of  the  Spanish,  who  came  to  it 
somewhere  about  1818,  and  were  struck  with  the  color  of  its 
water.  Green  river  is  also  often  and  not  improperly  called  the 
Colorado,  as  it  is  the  main  upper  reach  of  that  great  stream. 
From  South  Pass  it  was  two  or  three  days'  journey  on  the  regu- 
lar road  S.  W.,  down  the  Little  and  Big  Sandy,  to  the  rendezvous 
on  Green  river,  near  Capt.  Bonneville's  post.  The  exact  loca- 
tion of  this  rendezvous,  which  Larpenteur  does  not  give,  is 
recoverable  from  Irving's  chaps,  xix  and  xx,  where  it  appears 
that  Bonneville,  who  had  wintered  1832-33  elsewhere  in  the 
mountains,  reached  Green  river  July  13,  1833,  ^.nd  "  sent  out 
spiestohisplaceof  rendezvous  on  Horse  creek,"  a  small  tributary 
of  the  Green  from  the  W.  "  About  four  miles  from  the  rendezvous 
of  Captain  Bonneville  was  that  of  the  American  Fur  Company 
hard  by  which  was  that  also  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Com- 
pany " — the  latter  being,  of  course,  that  to  which  Larpenteur 
belonged.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  rendezvous  where  the 
parties  met  was  at  Horse  creek,  for  this  creek  is  much  higher 


BONNEVILLE'S  STOCKADE.  3I 

were  still  some  of  Capt.  Bonneville's  men  in  a  small 
stockade.  He  had  come  up  the  year  previous 
[1832].     Thus  ended  our  journey  so  far, 

up  the  Green,  and  was  Bonneville's  own  place  of  rendezvous,  to 
which  he  sent  spies  from  the  point  where  he  met  the  other 
traders.  The  regular  road  passed  W.  from  this  vicinity  by  way 
of  Black's  and  Ham's  forks,  and  so  on  over  to  Bear  river. 

When  the  Wyeth  expedition  was  at  the  rendezvous  the  follow- 
ing year  (June  19-30,  1834),  Townsend  states  in  his  Narr.,  1839, 
p.  75,  that  he  met  there  Wm.  Sublette,  Capts.  Serre,  Fitzpatrick, 
and  other  leaders.  With  him  was  the  distinguished  botanist, 
Thomas  Nuttall;  and  "we  were  joined  at  the  rendezvous  by  a 
Captain  Stewart,  an  English  gentleman  of  noble  family,  who  is 
travelling  for  amusement,  and  in  search  of  adventure.  He  has 
already  been  a  year  in  the  mountains,"  etc.  This  is  the  English- 
man whom  Larpenteur  has  named  as  accompanying  his  party  in 
1833,  "  Another  Englishman,"  continues  Townsend,  p,  79,  "  a 
young  man  named  Ash  worth,  also  attached  himself  to  our 
party."  I  am  particular  to  cite  Townsend  in  this  connection, 
because  his  testimony  is  conclusive  that  the  rendezvous  was  not 
on  Horse  creek.  For  example,  he  says,  p.  69:  "  We  left  the 
Sweet-water,  and  proceeded  in  a  south-westerly  direction  to 
Sandy  river;  "  and  again,  p.  71  :  "  Our  course  was  still  down  the 
Sandy  river,"  etc.  Thus  he  reaches  the  rendezvous  by  the 
regular  road  which  I  have  mentioned  above,  and  it  was  where  I 
have  said.  Nobody  went  up  to  that  Horse  creek  place  to  pass 
from  Greeu  to  Bear  riveri 


CHAPTER  III. 
(1833.) 

PROM  GREEN  RIVER  RENDEZVOUS  BY  THE  BIGHORN  AND 
THE   YELLOWSTONE    TO    THE    MISSOURI. 

The  day  after  we  reached  the  rendezvous  Mr. 
Campbell,  with  ten  men,  started  to  raise  a  beaver 
cache  at  a  place  called  by  the  French  Trou  a  Pierre, 
which  means  Peter's  Hole.^  As  I  was  sick,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell left  me  in  camp,  and  placed  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  in 

•  I  have  not  elsewhere  found  Trou  a  Pierre  translated  "  Peter's" 
Hole — always  Pierre  or  Pierre's  Hole,  the  name  it  still  bears.  It 
is  said  to  have  been  so  called  after  one  Pierre,  an  Iroquois  in  the 
employ  of  the  H.  B.  Co.,  "  who  fell  by  the  hands  of  the  Black- 
feet  and  gave  his  name  to  the  fated  valley  of  Pierre's  Hole," 
says  Irving's  Bonneville,  chap,  x.,  date  not  given,  stated  to  be 
"many  "  years  before  1832.  The  history  of  the  place  dates  back 
to  1811,  when  the  outgoing  overland  Astorians  passed  through 
it,  between  Oct.  4  and  8  ;  but  it  was  then  nameless.  This  party 
were  en  route  from  the  main  or  S.  fork  of  Snake  river,  at  the 
mouth  of  Hoback's  river,  to  the  point  on  Henry's  or  N.  fork  of 
Snake  river  where  Andrew  Henry  had  established  his  post  in 
1 8 10,  and  been  driven  therefrom  in  18 11.  Their  way  was  over 
the  Teton  range  by  Teton  Pass  into  Pierre's  Hole,  which  is  the 
recess  between  the  mountains  just  said  and  the  Snake  River 
range  ;  the  Hole  is  watered  by  the  numerous  affluents  of  Teton 

3a 


ONE  SOBER  MAN  IN  CAMP.  33 

charge  during  his  absence,  telling  the  latter  to  take 
good  care  of  me,  and  if  the  man  Redman,  whom  he 
left  as  clerk,  did  not  answer,  to  try  me.  In  a  short 
time  a  tent  was  rigged  up  into  a  kind  of  saloon,  and 
such  drinking,  yelling,  and  shooting  as  went  on  I,  of 
course,  never  had  heard  before.  Mr.  Redman,  among 
the  rest,  finally  got  so  drunk  that  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  could 
do  nothing  with  him,  and  there  was  not  a  sober  man 
to  be  found  in  camp  but  myself.  So  Mr.  Fitzpat- 
rick asked  me  if  I  would  try  my  hand  at  clerking.  I 
remarked  that  I  was  willing  to  do  my  best,  and  at  it 
I  went.  For  several  days  nothing  but  whisky  was 
sold,  at  $5  a  pint.     There  were  great  quarrels  and 

river,  from  all  the  mountains  round  about,  and  the  Teton  flows 
into  Henry's  fork  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place  where  Henry's  fort 
stood,  but  lower  down.  This  post  was  on  the  left  bank  of  Henry's 
fork,  about  opposite  present  Elgin,  2-3  m.  from  present  Wilford, 
say  10  m.  below  confluence  of  Fall  river  with  the  main  stream. 
Pierre's  Hole  was  retraversed  by  the  incoming  Astorians  early  in 
October  of  the  following  year,  1812,  and  in  Larpenteur's  time  had 
become  a  great  resort.  "  Pierre's  Hole  "  will  be  found  marked 
on  various  maps,  but  the  name  seems  to  be  lapsing  of  late  years, 
like  that  of  Pierre's  river  for  the  Teton.  The  meridian  line  be- 
tween Wyoming  and  Idaho  runs  through  Pierre's  Hole,  near 
long.  111°  W. 

The  most  notable  event  in  the  early  history  of  Pierre's  Hole  is 
the  fight  with  the  Blackfeet  of  1832,  best  narrated  in  Irving's 
chap.  vi.  A  recent  letter  from  John  Ball,  dated  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  Oct.  14,  1874,  published  in  Cont.  Mont.  Hist.  Soc,  i,  1876, 
pp.  Ill,  112,  gives  another  notice  of  the  same  place  in  1832:  "  I 
crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1832,  in  the  party  of  Mr.  Nathan- 


34  ACTING  AS  CLERK. 

fights  outside,  but  I  must  say  the  men  were  very  civil 
to  me.  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  was  delighted,  and  wondered 
to  me  why  Mr.  Campbell  had  not  mentioned  me  for 
'clerk  in  the  first  instance  instead  of  that  drunken  Red- 
man. After  seven  or  eight  days  Mr.  Campbell  re- 
turned with  ten  packs  of  beaver.  A  few  days  after- 
ward the  rumor  was  circulated  in  camp  that  he  was 
about  to  sell  out  their  interest  in  the  mountains  to 
Fitzpatrick,  Edmund  Christy,  Frap,  and  Gervais. 
In  the  meantime  sprees  abated,  and  the  trappers  com- 
menced to  buy  their  little  outfits,  consisting  of 
blankets,  scarlet  shirts,  tobacco,  and  some  few 
trinkets  to  trade  with  the  Snake  Indians,  during 
which  transactions  I  oflficiated  as  clerk. 

iel  Wyeth.  .  .  In  upper  Missouri  our  party  joined  a  trading^ 
company  headed  by  Mr.  William  Sublette,  with  whom  we 
traveled.  A  Mr.  Robert  Campbell  of  St.  Louis  was  also  of  the 
caravan.  We  passed  Captain  Bonneville's  party,  which  was 
traveling  with  wagons,  between  the  Kansas  and  the  Platte,  went 
up  the  North  Platte  and  Sweetwater,  and  reached  the  South  Pass 
early  in  July.  We  kept  close  under  the  Wind  River  Mountains 
for  a  hundred  miles,  and  came  to  a  branch  of  the  Lewis  river 
(Snake  river),  and  at  Pierre's  Hole,  which  was  a  famous  resort, 
met  Sublette's  trappers  and  the  Flathead  and  Nez  Perce  Indians." 
The  reader  will  remember  that  this  was  the  time  and  place  of 
Sublette's  wounding,  already  mentioned  by  Larpenteur,  p.  8. 

The  Orig.  Journ.  states  that  the  party  which  went  to  "  raize 
the  cash  "  in  Pierre's  Hole  left  July  8,  and  consisted  of  i8  men, 
who  returned  July  15  ;  two  days  after  which  camp  was  shifted  a 
little  further  down  Green  river,  where  there  was  better  pastur- 
age, and  remained  there  until  July  24. 


DETAILED  FOR  THE  YELLOWSTONE.  35 

The  rumors  at  last  became  verified;  the  sales  were 
effected,  but  things  went  on  as  usual  until  Mr. 
Campbell  sent  for  me  one  morning.  On  entering  his 
tent  I  was  presented  with  a  good  cup  of  coffee  and  a 
large-sized  biscuit;  this  was  a  great  treat,  for  I  be- 
lieve that  it  was  the  first  coffee  I  had  drunk 
since  I  left  Lexington.  Then  he  remarked, 
"  Charles,  I  suppose  you  have  heard  that  I  sold  out 
our  interest  in  the  mountains;  but  I  have  reserved  all 
your  mess,  ten  mules,  and  the  cattle  (we  had  four 
cows  and  two  bulls,  intended  for  the  Yellowstone). 
I  have  30  packs  of  beaver,  which  Fitz  is  to  assist  me 
with  as  far  as  the  Bighorn  river,  where  I  intend  to 
make  skin  boats  and  take  my  beaver  down  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Yellowstone.  There  I  expect  to  meet 
Sublette,  who  is  to  take  the  packs  on  to  St.  Louis. 
You  are  one  of  the  ten  men  whom  I  have  reserved, 
but  Fitz  would  like  much  to  have  you  remain  with 
him,  and  I  leave  you  the  choice,  to  stay  with  him 
or  come  with  me."  My  reply  was,  "  Mr.  Campbell, 
I  have  engaged  to  you,  you  have  treated  me  like  a 
gentleman,  and  I  wish  to  follow  you  wherever  you 
go."  Upon  which  he  said,  "  Very  well,  very  well," 
with  a  kind  smile;  "  go  to  your  mess."  On  return- 
ing, my  messmates,  expecting  some  news,  asked  me 
what  was  the  result  of  my  visit  to  the  boss;  and,  on 
being  informed,  a  great  shout  of  joy  was  the  answer. 


36  "  MAD   WOLF  !  " 

The  beaver  was  all  packed  and  pressed  ready  for  the 
march;  so  the  next  day  the  order  came  to  catch  up 
the  animals,  receive  our  packs,  and  move  camp. 
This  was  not  our  final  departure;  it  was  merely  to  get 
a  fresh  grazing  ground  for  the  mules  and  horses. 

A  day  or  so  later  we  learned  that  a  mad  wolf  had 
got  into  Mr.  Fontenelle's  camp  about  five  miles  from 
us,  and  had  bitten  some  of  his  men  and  horses.  My 
messmates,  who  were  old  hands,  had  heard  of  the  like 
before,  when  men  had  gone  mad.  It  was  very  warm, 
toward  the  latter  end  of  July ;  we  were  in  the  habit  of 
sleeping  in  the  open  air,  and  never  took  the  trouble 
to  put  up  the  tent,  except  in  bad  weather;  but  when 
evening  came  the  boys  set  up  the  tent.  Some  of  the 
other  messes  asked,  "  What  is  that  for?  "  The  re- 
ply was,  "  Oh,  mad  wolf  come — he  bite  me."  When 
the  time  came  to  retire  the  pack  saddles  were  brought 
up  to  barricade  the  entrance  of  our  tent,  the  only  one 
up  in  camp,  excepting  that  of  the  boss.  After  all 
hands  had  retired  nothing  was  heard  in  the  camp  ex- 
cept, now  and  then,  the  cry  of  "  All's  well,"  and  some 
loud  snoring,  till  the  sudden  cry  of,  "  Oh,  I'm  bit- 
ten! " — then  immediately  another,  and  another. 
Three  of  our  men  were  bitten  that  night,*  all  of  them 

'  This  affair  of  the  mad  wolves  is  also  narrated  by  Irving  in 
Bonneville's  Adventures,  chap,  xx  ;  where,  after  describing  the 
wild  revelry  and  deviltry  that  went  on  in  the  several  camps  of 


.     GEORGE   HOLMES  AND   OTHERS  BITTEN.  37 

in  the  face.  One  poor  fellow,  by  the  name  of  George 
Holmes,  was  badly  bitten  on  the  right  ear  and  face. 
All  hands  got  up  with  their  guns  in  pursuit  of  the 
animal,  but  he  made  his  escape.  When  daylight 
came  men  were  mounted  to  go  in  search,  but  nothing 
could  be  seen  of  hijn.  It  was  then  thought  that  he 
had  gone  and  was  not  likely  to  return,  and  no  fur- 
ther precaution  was  taken  than  the  night  before.  But 
it  seems  that  Mr.  Wolf,  who  was  thought  far  away, 
had  hidden  near  camp;  for  about  midnight  the  cry  of 
"  mad  wolf  "  was  heard  again.  This  time  the  animal 
was  among  the  cattle  and  bit  our  largest  bull,  which 
went  mad  afterward  on  the  Bighorn,  where  we  made 
the  boats.  The  wolf  could  have  been  shot,'  but 
orders  were  not  to  shoot  in  camp,  for  fear  of  accident- 
ally killing  some  one,  and  so  Mr.  Wolf  again  escaped. 

this  great  rendezvous,  he  says :  "  During  this  season  of  folly  and 
frolic,  there  was  an  alarm  of  mad  wolves  in  the  two  lower  camps," 
/.  e.,  of  the  A.  F.  Co.  and  R.  Mt.  Co.  The  chapter  ends  with 
"another  instance  we  have  from  a  different  person  who  was 
present  in  the  encampment.  One  of  the  men  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Fur  Company  had  been  bitten,"  etc.  This  case  seems 
to  be  no  other  than  that  of  George  Holmes,  and  very  likely  Lax- 
penteur  was  Irving's  informant. 

3  Larpenteur  says  in  his  Orig.  Jotirn.  that  he  could  have  shot 
the  wolf,  "  but  I  was  hindered  by  Captain  Stward  which  was  offi- 
cer of  guard  at  the  time."  He  forgets  to  state,  among  events  at 
the  rendezvous,  that  on  July  22  Mr.  Gervais  started  with  30  men 
to  trap  in  the  "root  diger's  country,  "/.  e.,  among  the  Digger 
Indians. 


$8  DEPARTURE  FOR  THE   BIGHORN. 

But  we  learned  afterward  that  he  had  been  killed  by 
some  of  Mr.  Fontenelle's  men. 

As  well  as  I  can  remember  it  was  the  first  week  in 
August  *  when  we  were  ordered  to  take  final  leave 
for  the  Horn.  Our  party  was  then  much  reduced; 
the  members  of  the  new  company  remained  on  Green 
river  with  the  intention,  according  to  custom,  to  set 
out  through  the  mountains  so  soon  as  trapping  time 

*  Grig.  Joum.  gives  July  24  as  date  of  final  departure  from  the 
rendezvous  for  the  Bighorn.  That  this  is  correct  is  shown  by 
Irving's  Bonneville,  opening  of  chap,  xxiii,  where  we  read  : 
"  On  the  25th  of  July  [1833]  Captain  Bonneville  struck  his  tents, 
and  set  out  on  his  route  for  the  Bighorn,  .  .  .  and  soon  fell  upon 
the  track  of  Mr.  Robert  Campbell's  party,  which  had  preceded 
him  by  a  day."  Irving's  whole  chapter,  in  fact,  should  be  read 
with  the  present  chapter  of  Larpenteur,  as  it  gives  many  addi- 
tional particulars.  The  two  parties  came  together  Aug.  4  ;  on 
which  date  Irving  mentions  Fitzpatrick,  as  well  as  Campbell  ; 
the  English  Captain  Stewart  (or  Stuart),  whom  Larpenteur  has 
dropped,  though  this  g^est  was  still  with  the  party ;  and 
Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth,  who  was  attached  to  Larpenteur's  party,  on 
his  return  from  his  outgoing  of  1832  with  Wm.  Sublette  and 
R.  Campbell,  after  he  had  been  to  the  Columbia  and  returning 
had  met  Bonneville  at  the  rendezvous  on  Green  river.  The 
various  parties  continued  together  about  a  fortnight,  before  they 
separated  on  their  several  diverse  routes.  Bonneville  set  out  for 
a  rendezvous  at  Medicine  Lodge  on  Aug.  17.  Captain  Stuart 
started  for  the  Crows  on  his  adventures,  of  which  he  had  plenty, 
as  we  may  read  in  Beckwourth's  book.  Wyeth  went  on  ahead  of 
Larpenteur's  party,  down  the  Bighorn  in  a  bull-boat ;  left  Fort 
Cass  Aug.  i8,  and  reached  Fort  Union  Aug.  24  ;  Milton  Sublette 
was  with  him.     Irving's  chap,  xli  traces  Wyeth 's  journey. 


ON  THE  SWEETWATER.  39 

commenced.  Fitzpatrick  came  with  us,  with  about 
20  of  his  men;  Harrison  was  with  Fitz,  intending  to 
winter  in  the  mountains.  We  turned  back  on  the 
same  route  by  which  we  had  reached  the  rendezvous, 
to  Sweetwater,  from  which  we  struck  off  for  Wind 
river."^     Two  days  after  leaving  the  Sweetwater  we 

*  The  main  upper  reach  of  the  Bighorn  itself  is  so  called  above 
the  confluence  of  Popo-agie  river.  Wind  river  runs  S.  E.  to  this 
confluence,  whence  the  course  of  the  Bighorn  is  almost  N.  to  the 
Yellowstone.  Larpenteur  retraversed  South  Pass  and  thus  got 
on  the  Sweetwater,  but  did  not  go  far  down  the  latter  before 
turning  away  from  it — certainly  nowhere  near  "  Rock  Independ- 
ent," as  he  says  by  mistake  in  a  passage  above  which  I  have 
stricken  out,  as  nothing  of  the  sort  is  indicated  by  the  Orig. 
Joum.  "  Wind  River  "  occurs  in  Irving's  Astoria,  orig.  ed.  1^36, 
but  the  name  is  much  older.  The  stream  was  first  ascended  by 
the  outgoing  overland  Astorians  under  Wilson  Price  Hunt,  Sept. 
^14,  181 1  ;  and  appears  to  have  soon  become  known  by  its  pres- 
ent name,  though  this  does  not  occur  in  any  Lewis  and  Clark 
text,  orig.  ed.  1814.  The  Bighorn  was  of  course  so  named  from 
the  mountain  sheep,  Ovis  montana :  an  Indian  name  of  this  ani- 
mal is  rendered  ahsahta  by  Irving,  and  Arsata  appears  as  an 
alternative  name  of  the  river  on  Lewis'  earliest  map.  In  one  place 
in  chap,  xxiv  "  Big  Horse"  runs  through  all  the  eds.  of  Astoria 
by  misprint.  In  David  Thompson's  MS.  I  found  the  name 
"  River  of  Large  Com,"  evidently  mistranslating  the  French 
Grosse  Corne  (big  horn).  Pappah-ahje  of  the  above  text  is  one 
of  many  variants  of  the  Crow  Indian  name  now  usually  rendered 
Popo-agie,  meaning  Reed  river.  Bonneville  spells  it  Po-po-az- 
ze-ah.  In  his  Bonneville  Irving  mistakenly  translates  it  "  Head  " 
river.  On  consulting  Dr.  Matthews  in  this  case,  I  am  favored 
with  the  following  :  "  Popo-Agie  is  a  Crow  name.  As  you  know. 
Crow  and  Hidatsa  are  closely  allied  tongues,  and  as  you  know 


40  WIND   RIVER— MAN   SHOT. 

reached  Wind  river,  near  the  mouth  of  a  small  stream 
called  Pappah-ah-je,  which  place  Dr.  Harrison  visited 
on  account  of  the  remarkable  oil  spring  which  puts 
into  that  stream.  Some  distance  from  the  river  we 
learned  by  one  of  the  men,  who  had  gone  ahead  to 
find  a  good  encampment,  that  the  Indians,  the  night 
previous,  had  shot  a  trapper  asleep  through  the  ear, 
that  the  ball  had  come  out  under  his  jaw,  and  that  he 
had  an  arrow-point  in  his  shoulder-blade.  Three  old 
trappers  *  had  left  Green  river  some  time  before  us, 
intending  to  meet  us  on  Wind  river.  Dr.  Harrison 
extracted  the  arrow-point  and  dressed  the  wound, 
which  he  pronounced  not  dangerous.  We  remained 
in  camp  two  days.  From  this  point  until  we  got  to 
the  other  side  of  the  mountains,  game  became  so 
scarce  that  we  had  to  live  for  two  days  on  such  berries 
and  roots  as  we  could  find.  Two  days  before  reach- 
also,  the  sounds  of  o  and  u  are  easily  interchanged  in  any  lan> 
guage,  English  included.  Now  look  at  my  Hidatsa  Dictionary 
for  the  vj  ovA.s  ptipu  and  dzi  (ahzhee),  and  put  them  together; 
then  look  at  the  word  for  head  {atu)  and  see  if  you  can  make 
"  Head  River  "  out  of  this  name.  Ptipu  is,  I  believe,  the  com- 
mon reed,  Phra^s^fnites  communis.  This  plant  figures  again  in 
the  Tobacco  Garden  story,  which  comes  later  on  in  Larpenteur." 
•  These  were  three  of  Mr.  Frapp 's  men.  A  fuller  account  of 
the  shooting  is  given  in  the  Orig.  Journ.,  from  which  it  appears 
that  the  Indians  were  Shoshones  who,  disguised  with  bushes  on 
their  heads,  crept  up  so  close  to  their  victim  that  the  powder 
burned  his  cap.     Irving's  chap,  xxiii  notes  the  same  incident. 


FATALITIES   FROM    HYDROPHOBIA.  4I 

ing  the  Horn  one  of  our  bulls  commenced  to  show 
some  symptoms  of  hydrophobia  by  bellowing  at  a 
great  rate,  and  pawing  the  ground.  This  scared  my 
poor  friend  Holmes,  who  was  still  in  our  party,  but 
not  destined  to  reach  the  Yellowstone.  He  was  a 
young  man  from  New  York,  well  educated,  and  we 
became  quite  attached  to  each  other  on  our  long 
journey.  The  poor  fellow  now  and  then  asked  me 
if  I  thought  he  would  go  mad;  although  thinking 
within  myself  he  would,  being  so  badly  bitten,  I  did 
all  I  could  to  make  him  believe  otherwise.  When  he 
said  to  me,  "  Larpenteur,  don't  you  hear  the  bull — he 
is  going  mad — I  am  getting  scared,"  I  do  believe  I 
felt  worse  than  he  did,  and  scarcely  knew  how  to  an- 
swer him.  The  bull  died  two  days  after  we  arrived  at 
the  Horn,  and  I  learned,  some  time  afterward,  from 
Mr.  Fontenelle,  that  Holmes  had  gone  mad.  For 
some  days  he  could  not  bear  to  cross  the  small  streams 
which  they  struck  from  time  to  time,  so  that  they  had 
to  cover  him  over  with  a  blanket  to  get  him  across; 
and  at  last  they  had  to  leave  him  with  two  men  until 
his  fit  should  be  over.  But  the  men  soon  left  him  and 
came  to  camp.  Mr.  Fontenelle  immediately  sent 
back  after  him;  but  when  they  arrived  at  the  place, 
they  found  only  his  clothes,  which  he  had  torn  off 
his  back.  He  had  run  away  quite  naked,  and  never 
was  found.     This  ended  my  poor  friend  Holmes. 


42  DOWN  THE   BIGHORN. 

It  was  about  the  loth  of  August  when  we  reached 
the  Horn,  which  is  the  same  as  Wind  river,  only  the 
latter  loses  its  name  after  crossing  the  mountains.  It 
is  not  navigable  through  the  mountains,  I  am  in- 
formed, even  for  a  small  canoe ;  and  this  is  the  reason 
why  our  boats  had  to  be  made  on  this  side  of  the 
mountain.  So,  immediately  after  our  arrival,  a  large 
party  of  hunters,  with  men  and  mules,  started  out, 
with  the  view  of  bringing  in  hides  rather  than  meat; 
but,  as  luck  would  have  it,  Mr.  Vasquez,  clerk  and  old 
mountain  man,  killed  one  of  the  fattest  buffalo  I  ever 
saw.  Three  days  after  this  three  boats  were  com- 
pleted,' and  everything  in  readiness  to  leave.  In  the 
morning  I  was  sent  for  by  Mr.  Campbell,  who  then 
gave  me  some  instructions  I  was  not  expecting. 
"  Now,"  said  he,  "  Charles,  I  am  going  down  by  the 
river  with  my  beaver.  Mr.  Vasquez  will  go  down  by 
land  in  charge  of  the  party,  with  the  mules  and  cattle. 
There  will  be  but  five  of  you.  You  are  going  to 
travel  through  the  most  dangerous  part  of  the  coun- 
try. Mr.  Vasquez  will  keep  ahead  of  the  party  on 
the  strict  lookout,  and  should  anything  happen  to 
him,  I  wish  you  to  take  charge  of  the  party."  My  re- 
ply was,  "  Very  well,  sir,"  though  such  instructions, 
I  must  confess,  made  me  feel  a  little  nervous.  But  it 
did  not  last;  I  very  soon  became  quite  cheerful,  and 
'The  bull-boats  were  made  about  Aug.  12-15,  by  Grig.  Journ. 


INDIAN   HOSTILITIES  FEARED.  43 

anxious  to  be  under  way.  Mr.  Campbell  started  that 
same  day,  and  we  all  left  early  next  morning.  For 
the  four  first  days  we  traveled  slowly  and  quietly. 
We  could  not  travel  fast  on  account  of  the  cattle, 
whose  feet  were  badly  worn  out  and  tender.  On  the 
fifth  morning,®  a  little  while  after  we  left  camp,  we 
saw  Mr.  Vasquez  coming  back  toward  us,  which 
made  us  suspect  he  had  discovered  something;  we 
thought  it  might  have  been  a  band  of  buffalo.  But 
when  he  came  up  to  us  he  said  that  he  had  discovered 
Indians — three,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river;  but  he 
was  sure  we  had  not  been  discovered  by  them,  and 
moved  that  we  should  go  near  the  river,  to  secure 
■water  and  make  some  kind  of  a  fort,  for  defense  in 
case  of  attack.  As  he  was  in  charge,  and  an  old 
experienced  man,  we  readily  consented.  So  on  we 
went  to  the  river,  but  on  arrival  we  found,  to  our 
great  surprise,  the  opposite  shore  red  with  Indians, 
who  commenced  to  yell  enough  to  frighten  Old  Nick 
himself.  No  time  to  make  a  fort,  or  even  to  un- 
saddle, before  they  began  to  throw  themselves  into 
the  river  and  make  toward  us.  Mr.  Vasquez  ordered 
us  to  take  position  behind  a  large  cluster  of  cotton- 
woods  and  cock  our  rifles,  but  not  to  shoot  until  he 
gave  the  order.     So  there  we  stood  in  readiness,  like 

•Aug.  17  is  this  date  by  Orig.  Journ.,  which  says  it  was  after 
two  days'  travel  that  the  incident  occurred. 


44  FRIENDLY  ABSAROKAS. 

veterans;  the  first  fright  was  over,  and  we  were  ready 
to  make  the  Indians  pay  dearly  for  our  hair.  None 
of  us  understanding  their  language,  we  made  sure 
they  were  Blackfeet,  and  fight  we  must.  In  less  time 
than  it  takes  me  to  write  this,  they  were  upon  us. 
One  tall  scoundrel  came  up  a  little  ahead  of  the  rest 
with  a  white  flag,  making  signs  not  to  shoot.  An 
old  French  mountaineer  named  Paulette  Desjardins 
understood  a  few  words  of  Crow,  and  as  the  Indian 
pronounced  the  name  of  his  tribe,  the  old  man  said 
"  They  are  Crows  • — ^there  is  no  danger  for  our  lives, 
but  they  are  great  thieves."  Mr.  Vasquez  also  knew 
as  much  about  them  as  the  old  man  did,  and  so  we  let 
them  come  up.  Then  the  shaking  of  hands  took 
place,  and  our  hearts  went  back  into  the  right  place 
again.  As  we  had  a  large  supply  of  buffalo  meat,  we 
made  a  feast,  which  they  appeared  to  relish  very 
much,  and  then  they  expressed  a  desire  to  open  trade ; 
but  we  had  no  goods  for  that  purpose. 

We  had  not  gone  more  than  three  miles  when  we 
discovered  some  ten  Indians  galloping  toward  us  as 
fast  as  their  horses  could  go;  we  stopped  until  they  ap- 
proached us,  when  we  found  that  they  were  the  chiefs 
and  leading  men  of  the  camp.     They  looked  splendid, 

•"They  made  us  sign  that  they  were  Ab-sah-rokier-bats-ats 
meaning  they  were  the  great  crow  Indians,"  Orig.  Joum.  Liter- 
ally, "  we  are  Crow  men:  "  see  Matthews,  Hidatsa  Gram.,  para- 
graphs 33,  168. 


CROW   CAMP.  45 

dressed  in  the  best  of  Indian  costumes,  and  mounted 
on  fat  ponies.  They  all  shook  hands  and  made  signs 
that  they  would  look  for  a  good  place  to  camp,  and  for 
us  to  follow.  Somewhat  against  our  will  we  did  so. 
It  was  not  long  before  the  desired  spot  was  found,  and 
the  whole  camp  soon  made  its  appearance,  containing 
upward  of  400  lodges.  This  was  a  great  sight  for  me, 
who  had  never  seen  such  a  formidable  Indian  camp. 
The  Crows,  at  that  time,  generally  roamed  together, 
and  on  this  particular  occasion  they  looked  richer 
than  any  other  Indians,  for  they  had  just  made  their 
trade  at  the  fort,  one  day's  march  from  where  we  were. 
The  Crows  did  not  drink  then,  and  for  many  years  re- 
mained sober;  it  was  not  until  a  few  years  ago,  when 
they  were  driven  out  of  their  country  by  the  Sioux, 
and  became  a  part  of  the  tribe  on  the  Missouri,  that 
they  took  to  drinking  with  the  Assiniboines.  As 
they  did  not  drink,  their  trade  was  all  in  substantial 
goods,  which  kept  them  always  well  dressed,  and  ex- 
tremely rich  in  horses;  so  it  was  really  a  beautiful  sight 
to  see  that  tribe  on  the  move.  As  soon  as  the  proper 
place  was  found  for  encamping,  the  chief  made  us  a 
sign  to  unsaddle  and  to  put  all  our  plunder  in  a  circle 
which  he  himself  described ;  and  on  the  arrival  of  the 
camp  his  lodge  was  immediately  erected  over  it,  so 
that  all  was  safe. 

We  finally  left  the  Crow  camp  and  soon  reached 


46  FORT  CASS. 

Fort  Cass,"  then  in  charge  of  Mr.  TuUoch,  who  was  a 
man  possessed  of  good  common  sense,  very  reliable, 
and  brave  withal.  He  was  called  the  Crane  by  all  the 
Indians,  on  account  of  the  extreme  length  and  slen- 
derness  for  which  he  was  remarkable — almost  a  curi- 
osity; he  was  extremely  popular  among  the  Crows, 
and  well  liked  by  the  mountain  men.  When  he  left 
Fort  Union  to  establish  this  new  post,  Mr.  [Kenneth] 
McKenzie  requested  him  to  take  all  such  articles  as 
the  Crows  might  fetch,  so  as  to  get  them  in  the  way 
of  trade.  His  first  returns  consisted  mostly  of  elk, 
deer,  and  all  kinds  of  horns,  which  made  great  mirth 
at  Fort  Union;  yet  his  trade  had  been  profitable.     It 

"  Fort  Cass,  on  Yellowstone,  2  m.  below  the  mouth  of  the  Big- 
horn, was  established  in  1832  by  A.  J.  TuUock — the  same  for 
whom  TuUock's  fork  of  the  Bighorn  was  named.  He  is  frequently 
TuUoch,  and  Tulleck  occurs  throughout  Beckwourth's  book,  in 
which  much  is  said  of  the  man  and  his  post :  see  also  L.  and  C, 
ed.  1893,  p.  1152. 

"In  1832,  McKenzie  sent  TuUock,  with  forty  men,  to  build  a 
fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn  river,"  says  James  Stuart,  in 
Cont.  Mont.  Hist.  Soc.,i,  1876,  p.  88.  This  is  right;  but  his 
further  statements  require  correction.  "  TuUock  built  the  fort 
named  Van  Buren,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Yellowstone,  about 
three  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn."  But  this  was 
Fort  Cass.  The  writer  goes  on  to  say  that  in  1863  he  saw  the 
location,  marked  by  ashes  and  some  standing  chimneys.  In  so 
stating  he  means  not  Cass  but  Van  Buren,  which  was  burned  by 
Larpenteur  himself,  in  1842,  as  we  shall  see  in  due  course;  and 
Van  Buren  stood  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud,  not  near  the  Big- 


DOWN  THE  YELLOWSTONE.  4;^ 

was  Started  again,  and  when  we  arrived  there  it  was. 
his  second  year.  We  learned  that  this  was  a  very 
dangerous  post;  they  had  had  some  men  killed  by  the 
Blackfeet,  and  were  even  afraid  to  go  out  to  chop 
wood.  This  fort  was  situated  about  two  miles  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Horn. 

Next  day  at  ten  o'clock  we  were  again  on  the  move, 
with  a  journey  of  about  250  miles  before  us,  to  reach 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone.  Nothing  worthy  of 
note  took  place  during  this  part  of  our  journey,  which 
would  have  been  extremely  pleasant  had  it  not  been 
for  anticipated  danger  from  Indians.  We  had  to 
erect  a  large  pen  for  our  animals  every  night,  for  fear 

horn.  The  writer  follows  with  other  statements,  singularly- 
wrong.  Speaking  of  the  Crows  as  an  insolent,  treacherous 
tribe,  he  says:  "They  wanted  the  location  of  their  trading-post 
changed  nearly  every  year,  consequently  thej'  had  four  trading 
posts  built  from  1832  to  1850,  viz.:  Ft.  Cass,  built  by  Tullock,  on 
the  Yellowstone,  below  Van  Buren  [r^a^  below  the  Bighorn],  in 
1836  [read  1832];  Ft.  Alexander,  built  by  Lawender  [read  Lar- 
pentetir],  still  lower  down  on  the  Yellowstone  river,  in  1848 
[read  1842],  and  Ft.  Sarpey  [read  Sarpy]  built  by  Alexander 
Culbertson,  in  1850,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud."  Mr. 
Stuart  was  a  well-informed  and  usually  accurate  man  ;  this 
passage  is  so  far  wrong  that  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  his 
copy  got  mixed  in  the  type-setting.  Certainly  no  reader  who 
did  not  know  who  built  Fort  Alexander  at  Adams  prarie  in  1842 
would  guess  that  "  Lawender  "  stood  for  Larpenteur.  The  date 
of  founding  of  Fort  Van  Buren  is  1835 ;  it  lasted  eight  years.  Fort 
Sarpy,  named  for  John  B.,  lasted  six  years,  1850-55. 


48  TO  THE  MISSOURI. 

of  sudden  attacks,  and  to  stand  frequent  guard,  as 
our  party  was  small.  But  we  lived  on  the  fat  of  the 
land,  as  at  that  season  game  was  in  good  order,  and 
the  Yellowstone  valley  abounded  with  all  kind  of 
game  at  that  early  period,  and  for  many  subsequent 
years.  We  were  often  frightened  at  large  bands  of 
elk,  which,  at  a  distance,  bear  the  exact  appearance 
of  a  mounted  party  of  Indians,  till,  by  the  aid  of  a 
good  spyglass,  our  fears  were  relieved.  Our  two  cows 
added  a  great  deal  to  our  good  living;  as  we  had  no 
coffee,  milk  was  a  great  relish.  We  made  but  slow 
progress,  on  account  of  the  cattle,  whose  feet  became 
very  tender,  and  finally  got  so  bad  that  we  were 
obliged  to  make  shoes  of  raw  buffalo  hide. 

We  arrived  safe  and  sound  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Yellowstone  on  the  3d  of  September,"  and  thus 
ended  our  long  trip.  We  were  soon  discovered  by 
our  people,  who  were  at  the  landing  where  our  fort 
was  to  be  erected,  two  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Yellowstone,  and  were  informed  that  Mr.  William 

"  Orig.  Joum.  happily  agjees  to  this  date — Sept.  3,  1833 — per- 
haps the  first  absolute  identity  between  itself  and  the  present 
text  thus  far.  It  appears  that  the  party  went  down  the  S.  side 
or  right  bank  of  the  Yellowstone,  as  it  speaks  of  crossing  Tongue 
and  Rosebud  rivers  ;  two  or  three  days  after  passing  which  latter 
the  Yellowstone  was  crossed  and  the  journey  completed  on  its 
other  side.  The  Journ.  has  :  "  On  the  third  of  September  on 
our  arrivel  at  this  place  we  saw  a  paper  stuck  on  a  pole  stating 


MULE  TALK.  49 

Sublette  arrived  there  eight  days  before  and  Mr. 
Campbell  three;  but  he  had  capsized  in  the  Horn,  lost 
two  packs  of  beaver,  and  been  near  losing  his  life. 
Otherwise  everything  was  right;  they  would  have 
been  glad  to  see  us  across,  but  it  was  too  late  in  the 
evening  to  attempt  this,  as  we  had  to  swim.  Now 
that  I  am  obliged  to  pass  a  night  on  this  side,  if  my 
reader  will  be  so  kind  as  to  help  me  we  will  try  to 
find  out  how  long  I  have  been  in  the  saddle.  As 
near  as  I  can  come,  it  is  five  months  lacking  four 
days.^^  We  should  have  been  much  better  pleased  if 
we  could  have  crossed  over  on  our  arrival;  still  we 
felt  quite  merry,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  we 
could  go  to  sleep. 

In  the  evening,  after  we  caught  up  our  stock,  one 
could  hear  great  talk  to  the  mules,  calling  them  by 
name,  telling  them  that  they  were  near  the  end  of 
their  journey,  and  what  they  might  expect  in  future; 
it  was  really  amusing,  and  it  was  almost  thought  that 
the  poor  dumb  beasts  understood  what  was  said  to 

Mr.  Sublette's  arrivel  and  [that  he]  was  at  the  time  two  miles 
below  the  mouth  [of  the  Yellowstone]  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Missouri  where  he  intended  to  build  his  fort  which  is  two  miles 
and  a  half  from  fort  Union  belonging  to  the  American  fur  Com- 
pany :  and  our  fort  was  named  fort  William  after  the  name  of 
the  owner  whos  name  was  William  Sublette." 

'^  By  our  text  ostensibly  Apr.  7-Sept.  3,  agreeing  within  a  week 
with  the  Orig.  Joum.    See  note  ",  p.  12, 


50  SWIMMING  THE  RIVER. 

them.  All  hands  were  up  early,  mules  and  cattle 
turned  out,  and  we  waited  impatiently  to  cross  over. 
Between  lo  and  ii  a.  m.  Mr.  Johnesse,  who  had  come 
down  by  water  with  Mr.  Campbell,  and  was  still  our 
foreman,  appeared  on  the  opposite  shore  to  show  us 
the  place  where  we  had  to  swim  the  stock  across. 
The  river  at  that  season  was  low,  and  the  channel  so 
narrow  that  we  could  plainly  hear  all  he  said.  When 
we  got  ready  to  drive  the  stock  in,  he  hallooed  to 
me,  thinking  I  did  not  know  how  to  swim,  to  take 
hold  of  the  bull's  tail.  Not  being  an  expert  in  the 
science,  I  took  his  advice  and  the  bull's  tail  too,  and, 
making  use  of  my  three  loose  limbs,  I  reached  the 
opposite  shore  with  ease.  In  a  short  time  we  were 
all  safe  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Missouri,  upward  of 
2000  miles  from  St.  Louis." 

"  In  round  numbers,  as  then  supposed,  like  all  of  Larpenteur's 
estimates  thus  far.  The  channel  mileage  of  the  Missouri,  from 
its  mouth  to  the  Yellowstone,  is  now  given  as  1,760  m.  St.  Louis 
is  now  17  m.  below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri. 

From  the  utmost  source  of  the  Missouri,  above  Upper  Red  Rock 
lake,  by  so-called  Red  Rock,  Beaverhead,  and  Jefferson  rivers,  to 
Three  Forks,  is  398  m.,  thence  to  confluence  of  the  Missouri  with 
the  Mississippi,  2,547  ;  thence  by  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  1,276  ;  total  channel  mileage,  4,221 — making  the  longest 
continuous  water-course  in  the  world.  See  Brower,  'The  Missouri , 
1897,  pp.  117-121. 


^    'IH^ 


Mi^Sou-ri  Kiver  a,t  rnoic-t'k  of  ike  Ve 
Piffcores  a.r'e  m^  i  Las  above  Sis mArc 
AI.'I>Q,k.  (From.  Mo.  R.  Co>n ?n.  Sheet 
To  fiK^t.    p.    S^) 


X    hrldf} 
'LX,   189^ 


5,000 


CHAPTER  IV. 
(1833-34) 

FORT  WILLIAM. 

Soon  after  crossing  the  Missouri  we  were  again  in 
company  with  our  former  messmates,  and  some  of 
our  other  acquaintances  who  had  come  down  the  Yel- 
lowstone by  water;  the  meeting  was  indeed  a  cause 
for  rejoicing.  We  were  now  altogether  about  30 
men,  encamped  in  the  willows  on  the  river  bank, 
about  300  yards  from  where  Fort  William  ^  was  to 

'  Here  we  have  exact  data  concerning  the  establishment  of  Fort 
William  in  opposition  to  Fort  Union  of  the  A.  F.  Co.  The  latter 
stood  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Missouri,  about  the  same  distance 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  that  Fort  William  was  below 
the  same  point,  and  owing  to  the  loop  of  the  Missouri  into  which 
the  Yellowstone  fell,  the  two  posts  were  about  as  far  from  each 
other  as  either  was  from  the  Yellowstone.  The  site  of  Fort  Wil- 
liam was  nearly  identical  with  that  of  the  subsequent  (and  pres- 
ent) military  post,  Fort  Buford.  This  original  wooden  Fort 
William  is  the  oqe  mentioned,  not  by  name,  in  Cont.  Mont. 
Hist.  Soc.  i,  1876,  p.  84,  where  it  is  said  that  "  Robert  Campbell 
and  Sublette  built  a  trading  post  where  Fort  Buford  now  stands, 
in  1833."  Later  on,  another  fort  called  William  was  built  of 
adobes,  on  the  same  spot,  or  very  close  by,  and  the  walls  of  this 

51 


52  FORT  WILLIAM  BEGUN. 

be  erected,  and  to  be  so  called  in  honor  of  William 
Sublette.  As  we  had  no  tents  those  willows  sheltered 
us  from  the  wind,  and  enabled  us  to  make  comfortable 
cabins.  Next  day  operations  commenced  for  build- 
ing the  fort;  some  men  getting  out  pickets  for  the 
stockade,  others  sawing  logs,  etc.  Seeing  the  neces- 
sity of  having  safer  quarters,  we  went  to  work  with  all 

one  were  still  standing  in  1865,  when  they  were  torn  down  to  be 
used  in  building  Buf ord. 

The  Orig.  Joum,  agrees  to  Nov.  15  as  the  date  of  moving  into 
Fort  William  and  beginning  to  trade  buffalo  robes,  wolves,  foxes, 
and  beavers.  The  fort,  as  originally  constructed  of  wood,  is  fully 
described  in  the  text  beyond. 

At  same  date  of  Nov.  15,  the  Journal  continues  :  "  We  were 
obliged  to  erect  out  Posts  one  was  about  fifty  miles  up  the  Mis- 
souri and  the  other  about  80  miles  up  the  Yellow  Stone  the 
former  was  managed  by  Mr.  Antoine  Jeanisse  [read  Jeunesse] 
and  the  latter  by  Mr.  Wm  Almond  from  Virginia."  The  outpost 
"  about  50  miles  up  the  Missouri  "  was  located  at  Frenchman's 
Point.  Both  this  and  the  Yellowstone  outpost  were  abandoned 
next  year,  1834. 

The  name  Fort  William  runs  through  travelers'  and  traders' 
writings  from  1833  to  1866,  when  the  last  traces  of  any  structure 
so  called  disappeared,  as  just  said.  But  all  mention  of  the  adobe 
structure  so  called  must  be  distinguished  from  any  reference  to 
the  origfinal  wooden  Fort  William,  which  only  endured  about 
a  year,  when  it  was  eradicated,  and  its  material  taken  up  to 
Union.  The  name  stuck  to  the  place,  and  was  bestowed  upon 
an  adobe  structure  which  was  in  evidence  on  the  spot  to  1866 ; 
but  the  date  of  erection  of  this  building  has  escaped  my  search. 
In  1843  the  Opposition  post,  on  or  very  near  the  original  site  of 
Fort  William,  was  called  Fort  Mortimer  ;   Larpenteur  says  so 


FORT  WILLIAM   OCCUPIED.  53 

our  might  every  day,  and  Sunday  too;  and  by  the  15th 
of  November  got  into  our  comfortable  quarters,  after 
which  the  Sunday  work  was  stopped.  The  day  we 
moved  in  was  a  hoHday,  and  in  the  evening  a  great 
feast  was  given  us  by  Mr.  Campbell — Mr.  Sublette 
having  left  in  the  keel  boat  a  few  days  after  our  ar- 
rival, taking  with  him  about  ten  men.     It  consisted 

expressly,  beyond ;  and  Audubon's  Journal  of  that  year  re- 
peatedly speaks  of  Fort  Mortimer  (vol.  ii.  iSgj,  passmi,  from  p. 
31  to  p.  148),  but  has  no  Fort  William.  Boiler  says,  in  his 
Among  the  Indians,  1868,  p.  42,  that  one  afternoon  in  1858,  "  we 
came  in  sight  of  Fort  William,  three  miles  below  the  mouth  of 
the  Yellowstone,  where  we  landed  "  ;  and  again,  p.  46  :  "A  short 
stay  [at  Fort  Union]  and  we  were  off  again,  passing  the  mouth 
of  the  Yellowstone  to  Fort  William,  where  a  huge  beacon  fire 
was  blazing  on  the  bank,  surrounded  by  a  g^oup  of  wild-looking 
mountaineers,  eagerly  awaiting  our  return.  Morning  at  length 
dawned  upon  the  dismantled  fort,  where  but  a  short  time  before 
all  had  been  life  and  animation.  It  had  now  a  deserted  and  for- 
lorn appearance,  and  in  a  little  while  the  crumbling  adobe  walls 
would  be  all  that  remained  of  what  had  once  been  a  bustling  post. 
We  took  on  board  the  proceeds  of  the  last  year's  trade,"  etc.  From 
this  it  would  appear  that  a  post  known  as  Fort  William  was 
operative  to  1857-58,  and  that  this  year  was  the  last  of  it.  In 
1863,  when  Boiler  was  again  at  Fort  Union,  he  says,  p.  369 :  *'  of 
old  Fort  William  nothing  was  standing  save  a  chimney  or  two, 
and  portions  of  the  crumbling  adobe  walls  ;  "  and  p.  372  :  "The 
ruins  of  Fort  William  were  in  plain  sight  [from  Union]  and  the 
mountaineers  spoke  regretfully  of  the  good  old  times  when  both 
Posts  were  in  the  full  tide  of  success,  and  of  the  hospitalities  that 
were  so  freely  exchanged  between  them  when  the  trading  season 
was  over." 


54  HORSE  AND  CART  WELL  MATCHED. 

of  half  a  pint  of  flour  to  each  man,  one  cup  of  coffee, 
one  of  sugar,  and  one  of  molasses,  to  four  men.  Out 
of  this  a  becoming  feast  was  made,  consisting  of  thick 
pancakes,  the  batter  containing  no  other  ingredi- 
ent than  pure  Missouri  water,  greased  with  buffalo 
tallow;  but  as  I  had  had  nothing  of  the  kind  for  up- 
ward of  six  months,  I  thought  I  had  never  tasted  any- 
thing so  good  in  my  life,  and  swore  I  would  have 
plenty  of  the  like  if  I  ever  got  back  to  the  States. 

After  this  our  work  was  changed  in  some  respects. 
I  was  appointed  carter,  as  I  was  not  a  yery  good  hand 
with  an  ax,  and  soon  equipped  with  an  old  cart  ^  pur- 
chased from  some  of  the  half-breeds,  who  had  come 
over  early  in  the  fall,  and  an  American  horse,  which 
had  been  brought  to  this  place  by  Paulette  Desjar- 
dins,  who  had  come  with  us  as  a  freeman,  but  had  sold 
his  small  outfit  to  Mr.  Campbell  and  engaged  in  the 
capacity  of  cook.  This  horse  was  an  old,  overgrown, 
broken-winded  beast,  which  would  groan  tremen- 
dously on  starting  his  load,  and  keep  it  up  for  about  a 

•  This  was  a  one-horse,  two-wheeled  cart  built  of  wood  without 
any  iron  whatever,  the  ramshackle  affair  being  held  together 
with  rawhide.  But  the  "Red  River  cart,"  as  it  was  called  be- 
cause it  was  made  in  this  fashion  by  the  Canadian  French  and 
their  half-breeds  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  answered  all 
ordinary  purposes,  and  many  thousands  of  these  primitive 
vehicles  were  in  use  during  the  years  of  which  Larpenteur 
•writes,  especially  on  the  annual  buffalo  hunts  which  were  con- 
ducted on  the  plains  in  large  companies. 


AND  DRIVER  TOO.  55 

hundred  yards  afterward,  at  which  I  could  not  help 
laughing.  Here  I  am,  a  regular  carter  of  Fort  Wil- 
liam, dressed  in  cowskin  pants,  cowskin  coat,  buck- 
skin shirt,  wolfskin  cap,  red  flannel  undershirt,  and  a 
blue  check  shirt  over  that,  stepping  along  behind  my 
old  horse  and  cart.  This  great  suit  was  intended  to 
last  my  time  out,  under  faithful  promise,  made  to 
myself,  to  leave  the  country  as  soon  as  my  engage- 
ment should  be  up;  for  I  began  to  find  that  I  was  in  a 
bad  box.  There  had  been  some  trading  previous  to 
our  entering  the  fort,  but  none  of  importance  except 
one,  which  took  place  about  two  weeks  after,  as  I  will 
now  relate.' 

*  A  long  biogfraphical  sketch  of  Tchatka  or  Gaucher,  otherwise 
Left  Hand,  the  renowned  Assiniboine  chief,  occupies  Letter  xiii, 
pp.  168-205,  of  De  Smet's  Western  Missions  and  Missionaries, 
New  York,  1859.  "  He  was  a  crafty,  cruel,  deceitful  man,  a  bad 
Indian,  in  every  sense  of  the  word  ;  his  life  was  full  of  horrors." 
He  seems  to  have  been  particularly  infamous  as  a  secret  poisoner, 
and  his  arts  as  such,  together  with  his  theological  juggleries, 
made  him  the  most  feared  and  best  obeyed  man  of  the  tribe  he 
led  for  some  forty  years.  This  great  perverted  genius  died  at 
Fort  Union  in  the  autumn  of  1843,  soon  after  a  crushing  defeat 
of  his  band  by  the  Arikaras,  from  whom  he  had  fled  ignomini- 
ously.  Among  his  names  or  titles,  besides  Gauch6  or  Gaucher, 
which  De  Smet  translates  Awkward,  are  Wakontonga  or  Great 
Medicine  ;  Mina-Yougha  or  Knife-holder  ;  and  Tatokanan  or  the 
Kid.  De  Smet's  story  is  no  doubt  substantially  correct,  as  he  re- 
ceived it  from  Mr.  Denig,  "and  from  a  worthy  Canadian  inter- 
preter." Both  of  these  men  resided  many  years  among  the  As- 
siniboines,  knew  Tchatka  well,  and  witnessed  many  of  his  acts. 


$6  TCHATKA  INTERVIEWED. 

The  news  came  by  an  Indian  that  Gauche,  the  great 
chief  of  the  Assiniboines  and  the  terror  of  all  the 
neighboring  tribes,  was  coming  in  to  trade  with  about 
200  buflfalo  robes,  beside  many  small  peltries.  As 
Mr.  Campbell  had  not  yet  been  able  to  turn  any  of 
the  chiefs  from  the  American  Fur  Company's  Fort 
Union,  Gauche  was  not  expected  to  come  to  us.  But 
as  he  was  a  queer  kind  of  a  grizzly-bear  fellow,  very 
odd  in  his  way,  Mr.  Campbell  thought  he  might 
try  his  luck  with  Gauche;  so  he  sent  his  interpreter 
and  me  along  to  see  what  we  could  do — for  I  must 
remark  that,  although  I  was  only  a  carter,  I  slept  in 
the  store  and  assisted  in  trade  at  night.  This  was  the 
favorite  time  for  the  Indians,  so  that  I  frequently 
traded  most  of  the  night  and  went  to  my  carting  in 
the  morning.  When  we  reached  the  place  where  the 
Indians  had  stopped,  as  was  the  custom,  to  vermil- 
ion and  dress  themselves  before  entering  Fort  Union^ 
where  their  reception  was  awaited  with  the  American 
flag  up  and  the  cannon  loaded,  ready  for  the  salute, 
the  interpreter  of  the  Big  Fort,  as  Fort  Union  was 
called,  had  already  arrived  on  the  spot.  Shaking 
hands  with  the  old  man,  he  said:  "  Well,  I  hope  you 
will  not  fork  *  to-day.  The  great  chief  of  the  big 
fort  has  sent  me  after  you,  and  he  is  well  prepared  to 

*  That  is,  turn  aside  to  go  in  another  direction,  as  a  road  does 
when  it  forks. 


TCHATKA  FORKS.  $/ 

receive  you.  I  hope  you  will  not  make  me  ashamed 
by  going  with  those  one-winter-house  traders."  The 
old  man  was  listening  with  half  an  intention  ^;  and,  as 
we  approached  him,  looked  the  interpreter  straight 
in  the  face  and  said :  "  If  your  great  chief  had  sent  any 
other  but  you  I  would  have  gone  to  him,  but  I  don't 
go  with  the  biggest  liar  in  the  country."  Then  he 
made  a  sign  to  his  people  to  get  on  the  move,  crying 
out  now  and  then,  *'.  Co-han!  Co-han!  "  which  meant 
"  Hurry  up!  "  I  found  out  afterward  that  this  was  a 
favorite  expression  of  his.  So,  to  the  great  astonish- 
ment of  Mr.  Campbell  and  all  the  others,  we  made 
our  triumphant  entrance  into  Fort  William.  We 
learned  afterward  that  Mr.  McKenzie  was  not  at  all 
surprised  at  the  old  fellow's  caper,  for  he  knew  Gau- 
che of  old. 

It  was  not  until  night  that  we  all  got  ready  to  trade. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  liquor,  at  that  early  day,, 
was  the  principal  and  most  profitable  article  of  trade, 
although  it  was  strictly  prohibited  by  law,  and  all  the 
boats  on  the  Missouri  were  thoroughly  searched  on 
passing  Fort  Leavenworth.*  Notwithstanding  this, 
Mr.  Sublette  had  managed  to  pass  through  what  he 

'  Undecided  in  mind  whether  or  not  he  would  "  fork,"  to  trade 
at  William  instead  of  Union. 

•  An  amusing  instance  of  the  way  liquor  was  sometimes  smug- 
gled past  Fort  Leavenworth,  with  or  without  the  connivance  of 


58  "  CO-HAN— HURRY    UP 


wanted  for  his  trade  all  along  the  Missouri;  but  the 
American  Fur  Company,  having  at  one  time  been 
detected  and  had  their  liquor  confiscated,  erected 
a  distillery  at  Fort  Union,  and  obtained  their  corn 
from  the  Gros  Ventres  and  Mandans.  I  will  say 
more,  in  future,  about  this  distiller}\ 

The  liquor  trade  started  at  dark,  and  soon  the  sing- 
ing and  yelling  commenced.  The  Indians  were  all 
locked  up  in  the  fort,  for  fear  that  some  might  go  to 
Fort  Union,  which  was  but  2^  miles  distant.  Im- 
agine the  noise — upward  of  500  Indians,  with  their 
squaws,  all  drunk  as  they  could  be,  locked  up  in  the 
small  space.  The  old  devil  Gauche  had  provided 
himself  with  a  pint  tin  cup,  which  I  know  he  did  not 
let  go  during  the  whole  spree,  and  every  now  and  then 
he  would  rush  into  the  store  with  his  cup,  and  it  was 
"  Co-han  " — telling  me  to  fill  it — and  "  Co-han!  hurry 
up  about  it,  too!  "  This  was  a  great  night,  but  I 
wished  that  the  old  rascal  and  his  band  had  gone  to 
the  big  fort.  At  last  daylight  came  and  the  spree 
abated;  a  great  many  had  gone  to  sleep,  and  the 
goods  trade  did  not  commence  until  the  afternoon; 
but  old  Co-han,  with  his  cup,  kept  on  the  move  pretty 
much  of  the  time.     It  was  not  until  midnight  that 

the  officials  whose  duty  it  was  to  stop  it,  may  be  read  in  Audubon 
and  his  Journals,  by  Miss  M.  R.  Audubon,  New  York,  Scribner's 
Sons,  1897,  i,  p.  479). 


OUT  OF  LUCK.  59 

the  trade  was  entirely  over,  and  early  next  morning 
they  moved  away,  with  the  exception  of  the  old  man 
and  a  few  of  his  staff  of  loafing  beggars. 

Mr.  Campbell,  who  was  anxious  to  secure  Gauche 
for  the  winter,  thought  to  make  him  a  very  impressive 
speech  previous  to  his  departure.  So  the  old  bear 
was  invited  into  Mr.  Campbell's  room,  and,  after  quite 
a  lengthy  speech,  during  which  the  old  fellow  made 
no  reply,  not  even  by  a  grunt,  he  merely  said,  "  Are 
you  a-going  to  give  me  some  salt  before  I  leave?  " 
This  being  all  the  satisfaction  Mr.  Campbell  received 
for  his  long  speech,  he  could  not  refrain  from  laugh- 
ing. The  old  devil  got  his  salt,  with  some  other  small 
presents,  and  then  departed  without  leaving  any  sign 
of  his  intention  to  return.     Thus  ended  this  trade. 

Mr.  Campbell  happened  to  be  out  of  luck  this  year, 
owing  to  the  very  warm  fall  of  1833,  which  kept  the 
buffalo  far  north,  and  the  winter  trade  of  1833-34  was 
a  poor  one;  the  Indians  had  no  confidence  in  his  re- 
maining, so  that  the  bulk  of  the  trade  went  to  the 
big  American  Company  in  spite  of  all  we  could  do. 
Fortunately  for  us  working  hands,  a  small  trade  was 
done  in  the  early  part  of  the  fall,  or  we  should  have 
fared  much  worse  than  we  did — which  was  bad 
enough,  as  I  will  go  on  to  explain.  The  jerked  buf- 
falo meat  which  had  been  traded  from  the  Indians 
lasted  but  a  little  while,  and  after  this  our  rations  con- 


60  PEMMICAN,   PEPPER  AND   SALT. 

sisted  of  about  a  pint  of  pounded  meat,  which  had 
been  prepared  and  was  brought  in  by  the  squaws. 
This  is  what  pemmican  is  made  of;  it  has  to  be  mixed 
with  grease  to  be  eaten,  but  the  tallow  for  this  pur- 
pose we  had  to  buy.  This  was  sold  at  50  cents  per 
bladder,  in  which  it  was  put  up  by  the  squaws,  and 
which  weighed  from  five  to  eight  pounds.  I  had  a 
partner,  a  German,  and  we  could  together  purchase 
a  bladder;  but  as  to  salt  and  pepper,  which  we  had  also 
to  buy — salt  $1  a  pint,  pepper  $2 — we  were  not  in 
partnership;  each  had  his  small  sack  containing  pep- 
per and  salt  mixed,  and  used  it  as  he  thought  proper. 
This  was  all  we  could  get — no  sugar,  no  cofTee — 
nothing  but  cold  water  to  wash  the  meat  down. 
This  was  generally  given  to  us  for  our  breakfast,  then 
lyed '  com  for  dinner  and  supper.  This  was  pretty 
good,  but  it  went  so  hard  on  the  salt  and  pepper  that 
I  began  to  think  that  I  scarcely  earned  my  salt.  This 
kind  of  living  lasted  nearly  all  winter,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  deer  or  an  elk  which  the  hunters  would  now 
and  then  kill  near  the  fort;  but,  true  to  my  word,  I 
entered  no  complaint. 

I  will  here  describe  the  construction  of  Fort  Wil- 
liam, which  was  after  the  usual  formation  of  trading 
posts.     It  was  first  erected  precisely  on  the   spot 

'  Com  soaked  in  lye  to  remove  the  hulls  of  the  grains.    See  for 
example  my  Henry  and  Thompson  Joums.,  1897,  p.  248. 


FORT  WILLIAM   DESCRIBED.  6i 

where  the  Fort  Buford '  sawmill  now  [about  1871] 
stands;  but  then  it  was  about  200  yards  farther  from 
the  river,  the  bank  having  caved  in  to  that  distance. 
It  was  150  feet  front  and  130  deep.  The  stockade 
was  of  Cottonwood  logs,  called  pickets,  18  feet  in 
length,  hewn  on  three  sides  and  planted  three  feet  in 
the  ground.  The  boss'  house  stood  back,  opposite 
the  front  door;  it  consisted  of  a  double  cabin,  having 
two  rooms  of  18X20  feet,  with  a  passage  between 
them  12  feet  wide.  There  was  a  store  and  warehouse 
40  feet  in  length  and  18  feet  in  width;  two  rooms  for 
the  men's  quarters  16X18  feet,  a  carpenter's  shop, 
blacksmith's  shop,  ice  house,  meat  house,  and 
two  splendid  bastions.  The  whole  was  completed  by 
Christmas  of  1833.  The  bastions  were  built  more  for 
amusement  than  for  protection  against  hostile  Indi- 

8  The  establishment  of  Fort  Buf ord  was  immediately  followed 
by  the  downfall  of  Fort  Union,  and  thus  the  mouth  of  the  Yel- 
lowstone passed  from  commercial  to  military  control.  This  was 
in  1866,  when  Buford  started  as  a  one-company  post,  increased 
to  five  companies  in  1867  ;  the  military  reservation  of  30  square 
miles  was  announced  in  general  orders  No.  21,  Headquarters  of 
the  Dept.  of  Dakota,  dated  July  16,  1868,  and  subsequently  de- 
clared. Building  went  on  for  several  years,  and  Buford  was 
a  great  place  when  I  was  there  in  1874;  I  last  saw  it  in  1893. 
During  1866-68,  at  least  14  soldiers  and  citizens  were  killed  by 
Sioux  at  Buford  or  in  its  immediate  vicinity  ;  an  attack  in  force 
was  made  Aug.  20,  1868.  A  good  description  of  the  establish- 
ment, by  Dr.  J.  P.  Kimball,  U.  S.  A.,  may  be  read  in  Circular 
No.  4,  Surgeon  General's  Office,  Washington,  1870,  pp.  400-405. 


62  SUBLETTE  SELLS  OUT. 

ans;  for,  at  that  time,  although  they  were  constantly 
at  war  with  other  tribes,  there  was  not  the  least  dan- 
ger for  any  white  men  except  the  free  trappers,  and 
we  could  go  hunting  in  all  directions  with  perfect 
safety.  Large  war  parties  frequently  came  to  the 
fort,  but  behaved  very  well,  taking  their  leave  after 
getting  a  few  loads  of  ammunition  and  some  tobacco. 
This  post  was  not  the  only  one  which  was  out  of 
luck,  for  all  those  along  the  Missouri  proved  a  failure. 
Sublette,  being  apprised  of  this,  sold  out  during  the 
winter  of  1833-34,*  to  the  American  Fur  Company — 
as  I  learned  afterward,  very  much  to  the  displeasure 
of  Mr.  McKenzie,  who  wished  to  break  us  down  com- 

•  The  Orig.  Joum.  g^ves  some  incidents  of  the  winter  of  1833- 
34,  which  the  Autobiog.  omits.  These  are  in  brief  :  On  Jan.  15 
1834,  the  Mr.  Almond  already  mentioned  as  in  charge  of  an 
outpost  was  robbed  by  Indians  and  his  life  threatened  ;  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  his  place,  where  he  had  traded  only  i^  pack  of 
robes,  and  a  few  packs  of  wolves.  About  the  same  time  Mr. 
"  Jeannisse  "was  attacked  by  some  half-breeds,  who  robbed  him, 
and  he  had  a  narrow  escape  for  his  life  ;  the  half-breeds  had  been 
hired  by  Mr.  Campbell  as  interpreters  for  the  Assiniboines  and 
Crees,  but  got  in  a  drunken  quarrel,  with  the  result  said.  On 
Mar.  20,  1834,  Mr.  J.  returned  to  Fort  William  with  16  packs  of 
robes,  and  a  few  wolf-  and  fox-skins.  Mr.  Vasquez,  who  had 
been  sent  to  the  Crows,  traded  30  packs  of  robes  and  one  pack  of 
beaver.  At  Fort  William  the  trade  was  100  packs  of  robes,  5  of 
beaver,  6  of  wolf,  and  one  of  fox  and  rabbit ;  the  opposition 
(Fort  Union,  A.  F.  Co.)  made  430  packs  of  robes;  "as  to  other 
peltries  I  was  never  informed,  but  I  am  sure  it  exceeded  ours." 


THE  ASSINIBOINE  ARRIVES.  63 

pletely,  as  a  warning  to  any  one  who  might  oppose 
such  a  formidable  and  well-conducted  company. 

It  was  not  until  about  the  loth  of  June,  1834,  that 
an  express  arrived,  informing  us  of  the  sale,  and  that 
the  steamer  would  be  up  some  time  between  that  date 
and  the  ist  of  July.  This  news  was  of  little  impor- 
tance to  me,  as  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  leave,  and 
thought  that  nothing  could  induce  me  to  re- 
main in  the  country.  In  those  days  there  was 
but  one  steamer  a  year  up  river  this  far,  and  great 
was  always  the  rejoicement  on  its  arrival.  This  was 
the  Assiniboine;"  the  boat  made  her  appearance  on 
the  24th  of  June,  having  on  board  the  gentle- 
men who  were  to  take  inventories  of  all  the  posts 
belonging  to  the  American  Fur  Company,  as  old  Mr. 

">  The  Assiniboine  was  the  boat  which  had  brought  up  Maxi- 
milian, Prince  of  Wied,  in  1833.  She  was  a  single-engine  side- 
wheeler,  owned  by  the  A.  F.  Co.;  John  Carlisle,  master;  lost  next 
year,  June  i,  1835,  by  fire,  at  the  head  of  Sibley  island,  near 
Little  Heart  river,  in  vicinity  of  present  Bismarck,  N.  Dak. 
The  boat  had  grounded  when  river  was  falling  and  was  soon  left 
high  and  dry.  A  lighter  was  to  be  built  to  float  her  cargo  down 
to  St.  Louis,  and  the  steamer  was  to  be  left  till  the  river  should 
rise  ;  but  before  she  could  be  discharged  she  took  fire  from  a 
stovepipe  in  the  cabin,  and  was  a  total  loss,  including  cargo, 
which  consisted  of  1,185  packs  of  robes  and  peltries,  and  a  large 
collection  of  Indian  curios,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone. 
"  There  were  four  live  buffaloes  on  board,  which  were  run  into 
the  river  and  reached  the  shore  by  swimming,"  Chittenden,  App. 
WW  of  Annual.  Rep.  Chf.  Engrs.,  1897,  p.  3873. 


64  PREPARATIONS   FOR  HOME. 

Astor  had  this  year  sold  out  to  Pierre  Chouteau  and 
Co."  A  few  days  after  the  arrival  of  the  steamer  the 
transfer  of  goods  and  peltries  took  place.  Of  the  lat- 
ter there  were  very  few — 70  packs  of  robes,  10  in  a 
pack,  which  made  700  robes;  16  packs  of  wolves,  30 
to  the  pack;  and  some  few  red  and  gray  foxes. 

In  the  meantime  preparations  were  made  for  depar- 
ture, which  was  to  be  in  a  large  Mackinaw  boat- 
While  these  were  going  on  my  occupation  was  that 
of  horse  guard.  The  idea  of  returning  to  the 
States  was  indeed  very  pleasant;  while  lying  on 
the  grass  the  thought  of  relating  to  Baltimore 
friends  my  mountain  stories  would  make  me  feel,  as 
the  Indian  says,  "  Big  man  me."  Best  of  all,  I  had 
the  means  to  accomplish  my  journey;  for,  out  of  my 
wages  of  $296  I  had  saved  over  $200,  thanks  to  not 
indulging  too  much  in  pancake  parties.  Coflfee  be- 
ing $1  a  pint,  sugar  $1,  and  flour  25  cents,  many  of 
my  poor  comrades  came  out  in  debt. 

One  fine  day  [July  2,  1834]  I  was  sent  for  by  Mr. 
Campbell — I  could  not  imagine  what  for.     I  had  not 

"  "  In  1834,  Mr.  Astor,  being  advanced  in  years,  sold  out  the 
stock  of  the  company,  and  transferred  the  charter  to  Ramsey 
Crooks  and  his  associates,"  Kelton,  Ann.  Mackinac,  Whitney  ed.. 
1886,  p.  74.  "  In  1834,  Astor  sold  his  interests  to  Chouteau,  Valle 
and  Company,  of  St.  Louis,  and  retired  from  the  business,"  Chit- 
tenden, The  Yellstn.,  1895,  p.  35,  confirmed  by  Larpenteur.  Mr. 
Astor  d.  Mar.  29,  1848  ;  Mr.  Crooks,  June  6,  1859,  in  New  York, 
in  his  73d  year. 


UNEXPECTED   OVERTURES.  65 

yet  shed  my  winter  garments,  which  had  become 
by  this  time  quite  greasy;  and  had  it  not  been  for  my 
blue  check  shirt,  which  happened  to  be  clean  at  the 
time,  I  should  have  been  taken  for  a  very  dirty  man. 
Imagine  my  surprise,  on  entering  Mr.  Campbell's 
room,  to  find  myself  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  McKen- 
zie,  who  was  at  that  time  considered  the  king  of  the 
Missouri;  and,  from  the  style  in  which  he  was  dressed, 
I  thought  really  he  was  a  king.  Without  any  intro- 
duction he  immediately  asked  me  if  I  would  engage 
to  him.  Having  made  my  plans  to  go  home  and  not 
knowing  but  what  he  wanted  me  for  a  common  hand, 
my  reply  was  a  short  "  No,  sir,"  after  which  I  made 
for  the  door  and  returned  to  my  duty.  The  same 
evening,  after  I  had  brought  in  the  horses,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell sent  for  me  again,  and  then  said:  "  Charles,  I 
omitted  to  inform  you  of  the  conversation  I  had  yes- 
terday about  you  with  Mr.  McKenzie.  This  was  the 
cause  of  his  coming  to-day.  He  did  not  want  to  en- 
gage you  as  a  common  hand;  he  wanted  you  for  a 
clerk,  and  I  should  advise  you  to  see  him.  He  is  very 
much  of  a  gentleman,  and  I  think  you  will  do  well. 
You  will  act  as  you  think  proper — but  this  is  my  ad- 
vice." Then  I  had  to  combat  my  made-up  plans,  and 
give  up  all  idea  of  returning  to  Baltimore.  This  I 
thought  I  could  never  do.  I  did  not  sleep  much  that 
night. 


66  IN   GOOD  LUCK. 

Next  morning,  while  I  was  not  feeling  disposed 
to  see  Mr.  McKenzie,  Mr.  Campbell  said,  "  Well, 
Charles,  are  you  going  to  try  your  luck?  "  My  reply 
induced  him  to  think  that  I  was  not  much  in  favor  of 
that.  Said  he  again,  "  Charles,  try  it — there  will  be 
no  harm  in  that."  Knowing  him  to  be  kind,  and 
confident  that  he  wished  me  well,  I  at  last  started. 
I  had  not  gone  more  than  halfway  when  I  turned  back 
a  few  steps;  but  I  finally  made  up  my  mind  to  "  try 
my  luck  "  as  Mr.  Campbell  had  suggested.  So  I  re- 
sumed my  journey  and  soon  entered  Fort  Union, 
where  I  met  Mr.  McKenzie  in  the  yard,  not  quite  so 
royally  attired.  He  came  to  meet  me,  and  offered  me 
his  hand.  After  the  usual  compliments  had  been  ex- 
changed I  remarked  that  I  had  not  been  apprised  of 
his  intentions  when  he  spoke  of  engaging  me,  and 
that,  thinking  he  wished  to  hire  me  as  a  common 
hand,  I  had  declined,  having  had  enough  of  it;  but 
that,  having  been  since  informed  to  the  contrary,  I  had 
thought  I  would  come  to  see  him,  and  hoped  there 
was  no  harm  done,  in  case  no  bargain  were  made. 
To  which  he  replied,  "  All  right!  All  right!  No,  I 
did  not  wish  to  engage  you  as  a  common  hand.  I 
wanted  you  for  a  clerk.  You  will  eat  at  my  table,  and 
fare  the  same  as  myself.  Your  work  will  be  no  other 
than  that  which  is  the  duty  of  all  clerks  in  this  coun- 
try.    Now,"  he  continued,  "  I  will  tell  you  how  we 


BARGAIN   MADE.  6/ 

engage  clerks — that  is,  inexperienced  ones.  We  en- 
gage them  for  three  years,  for  which  term  we  give 
them  $500  and  a  complete  suit  of  fine  broadcloth;  but 
as  you  have  been  already  one  year  in  the  country  I 
will  engage  you  for  two  years."  These  terms  did  not 
suit  me;  my  strong  inclination  to  go  home  made  me 
feel  quite  independent,  and  I  preferred  to  miss  the  bar- 
gain. I  replied  I  did  not  feel  like  engaging  for  so 
long  a  term;  but  that  I  would  engage  for  one  year, 
and  then,  if  he  were  pleased  with  me,  and  I  with  him, 
we  should  have  no  difficulty  in  arranging  for  another 
year.  Finally  he  consented  to  this  and  the  bargain 
was  struck  for  one  year,  for  which  he  allowed  me 
$250  and  a  complete  suit  of  clothes. 

Bargain  made  [July  3,  1834],"  I  was  almost  sorry 
for  it.  I  started  back  to  Fort  William,  not  after  my 
wardrobe,  which  I  could  very  well  sacrifice,  but  to 
thank  Mr.  Campbell,  and  to  bid  adieu  to  my  com- 
rades. Mr.  Campbell  was  extremely  pleased  to  hear 
the  result;  he  gave  me  a  check  for  the  amount  due  me, 
and  after  a  long  shake  of  the  hand,  with  all  his  good 
wishes  as  well  as  those  of  my  old  messmates  and 
others,  I  left  Fort  William.  My  load  to  Fort  Union 
was  not  very  encumbering;  my  old  saddle  bags,  made 
of  a  yard  of  brown  muslin,  sewed  at  both  ends  with  a 

""I  entered  in  agreement  on  the  third  of  July  for  one  year 
at  250  $  per  Anum  " — says  the  Orig.  Journ.,  in  excellent  Latin. 


68  TRANSFER  TO   FORT   UNION. 

slit  in  the  middle,  containing  two  red  flannel  shirts, 
pretty  well  worn,  and  one  check  shirt,  and  one  old 
white  3-point  blanket,  were  about  all  I  had  brought 
to  Fort  Union;  ^'  my  tin  pan  and  cup  I  left  behind.  I 
should  have  been  ashamed  to  be  caught  there  in  my 

"  Fort  Union  was  begun  in  the  fall  of  1829,  under  the  direction 
of  Kenneth  McKenzie,  and  finished  in  1833.  It  was  much  dam- 
aged by  a  fire  which  occurred  during  its  construction,  Feb.  4, 
1832.  It  was  for  many  years  the  headquarters  and  emporium  of 
the  A.  F.  Co.  Larpenteur,  who  now  enters  it  as  a  humble  clerk, 
was  afterward  in  charge,  and  has  more  to  say  about  it  than  any 
other.  We  shall  trace  its  history,  from  its  rise  through  its  cul- 
mination to  its  final  fall,  in  his  pages. 

What  is  probably  the  best  description  which  has  ever  appeared 
in  print  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Edwin  T.  Denig  to  Audubon  on  July 
30,  1843,  and  published  by  the  granddaughter  of  the  illustrious 
naturalist,  Miss  M.  R.  Audubon,  in  the  superb  work  which  ap- 
peared in  Dec,  1897,  entitled  Audubon  and  his  Journals.  Mr. 
Denig's  article  occupies  vol.  ii,  pp.  180-188.  I  shall  have  fre- 
quent occasion  to  cite  this  work  in  connection  with  Larpenteur  ; 
here  I  will  g^ve  one  passage  which  occurs  in  Mr.  Denig's  account: 

"  In  the  upper  story  are  at  present  located  Mr.  Audubon  and 
his  suite.  Here  from  the  pencils  of  Mr.  Audubon  and  Mr.  [Isaac] 
Sprague  emanate  the  splendid  paintings  and  drawings  of  animals 
and  plants,  which  are  the  admiration  of  all ;  and  the  Indians 
regard  them  as  marvellous,  and  almost  to  be  worshipped. " 

Audubon  spent  two  months  and  four  days  of  the  summer  of 
1843  at  Fort  Union  and  in  its  vicinity  ;  his  whole  narrative  is  of 
exceptional  interest  in  the  present  connection  (vol.  ii,  pp.  28-154). 
He  is  the  most  famous  person  who  was  ever  there.  We  may  also 
remember  that  a  princely  personage,  Maximilian  of  Wied,  made 
Fort  Union  his  headquarters  in  1833  ;  and  hence  "  emanated,"  as 
Mr.  Denig  would  say,  some  of  those  magnificent  colored  plates 


4  "B 


0 


AS  CLERK  A.   F.   CO.  69 

skin  suit,  which  was  also  sacrificed  to  Fort  William. 
Now  I  am  at  Fort  Union,  in  the  service  of  the  g^eat 
American  Fur  Company. 

which  compose  the  folio  atlas  of  the  most  luxurious  souvenir  of 
Western  adventure  ever  issued  from  the  press. 

George  Catlin,  who  was  here  in  1832,  rattles  on  about  the  place 
in  his  peculiar  fashion  through  Letters  2-9  of  his  work  (4th  ed. , 
London,  1844,  pp.  14-65);  his  pi.  3  gives  an  idea  of  the  scenery, 
but  is  worthless  for  the  fort,  which  he  furnishes  with  more  than 
two  bastions. 

A  notice  of  Fort  Union  as  it  was  in  1853,  when  visited  by  Isaac 
I.  Stevens  on  his  exploration  of  routes  near  the  47th  and  4gth 
parallels,  begins  on  p,  85  of  P.  R.  R,  Reps.,  vol.  xii,  book  i, 
Washington,  i860,  and  is  embellished  with  a  colored  lithograph, 
pi.  xvi. 

Another  good  account,  prepared  by  Mr.  James  Stuart  at  Fort 
Peck  in  1872-73,  occupies  Cont.  Mont.  Hist.  Soc.  i,  1876,  pp. 
80-84. 

The  picture  of  Fort  Union  which  I  am  enabled  to  print 
through  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Matthews  represents  the  post  as  it 
was  in  1864,  and  is  probably  the  most  accurate  one  which  has 
ever  appeared.    It  was  drawn  by  a  soldier,  name  unknown. 


CHAPTER  V. 
(1834-35-) 

FORT  UNION. 

I  MUST  remark  here  that  my  dress  was  a  little  im- 
proved. I  happened  to  have  a  pair  of  gray  cassi- 
nette  pants  which  I  had  brought  from  the  States,  and 
had  seldom  worn;  that  and  my  clean  blue  check 
shirt  and  my  old  cap  were  the  only  dress  I  possessed 
on  entering  Fort  Union.  All  the  clerks  were  stran- 
gers to  me,  and  when  the  bell  rang  for  supper  I  saw 
them  put  on  their  coats,  for,  as  I  found  out  after- 
ward, they  were  not  allowed  to  go  to  table  in  shirt- 
sleeves. One  of  them,  perceiving  that  I  was  coatless, 
was  so  kind  as  to  lend  me  a  coat,  and  so  we  started 
for  supper.  On  entering  the  eating  hall,  I  found  a 
splendidly  set  table  with  a  very  white  tablecloth,  and 
two  waiters,  one  a  negro.  Mr.  McKenzie  was  sit- 
ting at  the  head  of  the  table,  extremely  well  dressed. 
The  victuals  consisted  of  fine  fat  buffalo  meat,  with 
plenty  of  good  fresh  butter,  cream,  and  milk  for  those 
that  chose;  but  I  saw  that  only  two  biscuits  were 
allowed  to  each  one,  as  these  were  placed  at  each 
plate.    I  soon  discovered,  by  the  manner  in  which  the 


BASHFUL  AT  THE  NABOB'S  TABLE.  7 1 

clerks  took  their  seats,  that  mine  would  come  very  near 
the  end  of  the  table,  for  it  appeared  to  go  by  grade; 
but  it  was  not  many  years  until  I  reached  next  to 
head.  I  was  hungry,  and  had  such  victuals  been 
placed  before  me  the  day  previous,  while  I  was  on 
horse  guard,  I  should  have  played  my  part  like  a  man. 
But  among  strangers  I  could  not  help  being  a  little 
backward,  and  did  not  eat  half  to  my  satisfaction. 
As  good  luck  would  have  it,  some  of  the  clerks  used 
to  take  lunch  before  going  to  bed;  so  a  large  kettle 
of  fat  buffalo  meat  was  put  on  to  boil,  and  out  of  this 
I  finished  filling  up.  Then  I  went  to  bed  with  the  ex- 
pectation of  curious  dreams.  What  I  dreamed  I 
don't  remember,  neither  do  I  now  care.  I  awoke 
early,  perhaps  thinking  in  my  sleep  that  I  had  my 
horses  to  turn  out;  but  no,  there  were  no  horses  for 
me  to  turn  out.  Mr.  McKenzie,  who  played  the  na- 
bob, went  to  bed  late,  and  rose  later,  and  as  nothing 
could  be  served  till  he  was  ready,  it  was  nine  o'clock 
before  we  got  to  breakfast.  But  it  came  at  last,  and 
this  morning  I  filled  up  fuller,  with  more  ease. 

Between  ten  and  eleven,  Mr.  McKenzie  sent  his 
servant  to  tell  me  to  call  at  the  office.  On  entering 
he  told  me  to  sit  down,  and  said,  "  Well,  Larpenteur, 
we  will  assign  you  some  little  duty  to  try  your  hand 
upon,  and  if  you  prove  faithful  and  attentive,  as  I 
hope  and  have  all  reason  to  believe  you  will,  your 


72  ASSIGNED  TO  NEW  DUTIES. 

salary  will  be  increased  next  year,  provided  you  wish 
to  remain."  My  reply  was  that  I  hoped  he  would 
have  no  cause  to  complain.  He  then  went  to  a  place 
where  the  keys  were  hung,  and  handed  me  a  bunch, 
saying,  "  Here  are  the  keys  of  the  fort  gates,  of  the 
toe!  house  and  harness  house,  and  of  the  bastions. 
Now  it  will  be  your  duty  to  open  the  gates  early  in  the 
morning,  and  lock  them  at  night;  to  see  that  the  tools 
and  harness  be  kept  in  order,  and  all  in  their  proper 
places;  and  you  will  also  lend  a  hand,  in  case  it  should 
be  required,  about  the  stores."  Such  was  my  first 
employment  at  Fort  Union. 

Thus  I  went  on  quite  easily  for  some  time,  and  I 
thought  my  berth  a  very  light  one ;  but  it  was  not  long 
before  I  was  promoted,  and  this  made  quite  an  ad- 
dition to  my  former  duties.  Early  in  September, 
after  all  the  hay  had  been  hauled  in,  Fort  William  was 
to  be  rebuilt  within  1 50  yards  of  Union.  A  clerk  by 
the  name  of  Moncrevie,^  who  was  at  the  time  a  trader, 
and  also  in  charge  of  the  men,  had  this  to  attend  to; 
but  he  was  a  little  too  fond  of  whiskv,  and  much  too 
fond  of  the  squaws,  to  do  this  work  or  any  other  as  it 
should  be  done. 

'  Larpenteur  commonly  spells  this  name  Moncravie,  and  I  have 
found  in  print  several  other  forms,  as  Moncravie  and  Moncrevier, 
—in  either  case  with  or  without  acute  or  grave  accent.  The  fv.U 
name  is  believed  to  be  Jean  Baptiste  Moncrevie,  and  I  shall  adopt 
the  latter  form. 


BOSSING  MONCRfeVIE'S  BAD  JOB.  73 

One  afternoon,  after  the  rebuilding  of  the  fort  had 
commenced,  Mr.  Hamilton,  who  was  in  charge  at  the 
time,  went  to  see  how  it  was  progressing.  The  men 
had  half  of  one  side  of  the  fort  up,  but  it  was  an  awful 
piece  of  work.  The  pickets  were  set  in  crooked, 
some  too  high,  some  too  low,  and  the  sight  made  the 
old  gentleman  furious.  "  Where  is  that  Moncrevie, 
that  he  is  not  here  to  attend  to  the  work?  "  he  asked. 
Being  told  that  Moncrevie  had  gone  to  the  fort,  he 
started  off  quite  mad  and  rushed  into  our  room,  his 
nose  appearing  to  have  grown  bigger  on  a  sudden — 
for  such  was  the  case  whenever  he  got  out  of  humor. 
"  Mr.  Moncrevie,"  he  exclaimed,  "  why  are  you  not 
with  your  men?  That  is  a  nice  piece  of  work  they  are 
doing  there!  "  Moncrevie,  all  confused,  was  hurry- 
ing out,  when  the  old  gentleman  said,  "  No!  no!  you 
need  not  go,"  and  then  turned  round  to  me,  saying, 
"  Mr.  Larpenteur,  go  and  oversee  that  work  and  see 
if  you  cannot  do  better  than  that  Mr.  Moncrevie." 
So  I  started,  and  when  I  got  to  the  men  they  began  to 
laugh,  saying  they  expected  as  much.  I  told  them 
that  I  was  ordered  to  boss  the  job,  of  which  they  ap- 
peared to  be  glad.  Then  I  ordered  them  to  take  all 
the  pickets  down,  which  was  soon  done,  after  which 
I  had  the  trench  straightened  and  the  bottom  leveled. 
Next  day  about  noon  Mr.  Hamilton  came  to  examine 
the  work,  and  said,  with  the  pleasant  countenance  he 


74  PROMOTED   IN  CHARGE  OF  MEN. 

could  assume  when  he  chose,  "  Oh !  this  looks  some- 
thing like  work — not  like  what  that  good-for-nothing 
Moncrevie  has  been  doing."  At  that  time  I  had  only 
charge  of  the  men  allotted  for  the  rebuilding  of  the 
fort;  but  that  same  evening  Mr.  Hamilton  sent  for  me 
and  said,  "  Larpenteur,  I  now  wish  you  to  take  charge 
of  all  the  men,  for  that  Moncrevie  will  not  do."  Thus 
came  my  first  promotion.  Notwithstanding  this  ad- 
dition to  my  former  duties  I  still  thought  my  situation 
pleasant,  although  it  was,  at  times,  rather  disagree- 
able to  command  the  men,  and  not  infrequently  some 
fight  would  come  off;  but  the  most  disagreeable  part 
of  it  was  to  come.  Early  in  the  fall  trade  commenced, 
principally  in  jerked  buffalo  meat  and  tallow,  both 
mostly  traded  for  liquor.  The  liquor  business,  which 
was  always  done  at  night,  sometimes  kept  me  up  all 
night  turning  out  drunken  Indians,  often  by  dragging 
them  out  by  arms  and  legs.  Although  the  still  houie 
had  been  destroyed,  the  Company  found  means  to 
smuggle  plenty  of  liquor. 

Before  proceeding  with  my  narrative  I  will  detain 
the  reader  to  explain  how  it  happened  that  the  dis- 
tillery was  given  up.  A  certain  gentleman  from  the 
Eastern  States,  by  the  name  of  Capt.  Wheitte,^  who 

*  Meaning  Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth,  who  at  the  time  of  the  incident 
Larpenteur  proceeds  to  relate  was  on  his  return  from  his  first 
expedition  (1832-33),  and  had  reached  Fort  Union  Aug.  24,  1833, 


STORY    OF  THE  STILL.  7$ 

had  been  on  a  tour  to  the  Columbia,  and  returned  by 
way  of  the  Bighorn  and  the  Yellowstone  in  1833, 
reaching  Fort  Union  about  10  days  before  we  did, 
thought  proper  to  have  better  means  of  going  down 
the  Missouri,  and  called  on  Mr.  McKenzie  to  make 
the  necessary  preparations  for  this  journey.  Mr, 
McKenzie,  who  was  a  perfect  gentleman,  not  sus- 
pecting the  captain,  who  I  cannot  say  was  a  spy, 
did  all  he  could  to  make  his  stay  pleasant,  showed  all 
the  arrangements  of  the  fort,  explained  how  trade 
was  carried  on,  what  immense  profit  was  derived,  and 
also  showed  him  the  distillery.  Capt.  Wheitte  ap- 
appeared  to  be  delighted  to  see  this  fine  establish- 
ment, and  probably  would  not  have  done  what  he  did, 
had  he  not  found,  when  everything  was  in  readiness 

as  we  have  already  seen  (note  ■•,  p.  38).  The  story  of  the  distil- 
lery does  not  appear  in  Irving's  Bonneville,  as  Wyeth  must  have 
had  reason  enough  to  keep  such  a  piece  of  treachery  to  him- 
self ;  but  in  chap,  xli  of  Bonneville,  where  Wyeth's  arrival  at 
Fort  Union  with  Milton  Sublette  is  given  at  the  date  just  said, 
Irving  continues:  "  Here  they  were  hospitably  entertained  by 
Mr.  M'Kenzie,  the  superintendent,  and  remained  with  him  three 
days,  enjoying  the  unusual  luxuries  of  bread,  butter,  milk,  and 
cheese,  for  the  fort  was  well  supplied  with  domestic  cattle,  though 
it  had  no  garden."  Bvt.  Major  General  Orlando  B.  Willcox, 
U.  S.  A.,  informs  me  that  Wyeth  was  a  brother  of  his  stepsons' 
grandfather,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.;  one  stepson,  Nathaniel 
Wyeth,  being  now  a  student  at  L'ficole  des  Beaux  Arts  in 
Paris,  and  the  other  a  student  in  the  medical  department  of 
Columbian  University  in  Washington,  D.  C. 


y6  RE-ENGAGED   FOR  ANOTHER  YEAR. 

for  his  departure  and  he  came  to  settle  his  bill,  that 
the  charges  were  exorbitant.  He  said  nothing, 
settled,  and  started;  but  made  it  his  business,  as 
soon  as  he  arrived,  to  report  Mr.  McKenzie.  A  dis- 
patch was  sent  up  that  winter  for  the  distillery  to  be 
destroyed.  This  was  the  last  distillery  in  the  Indian 
country. 

All  went  on  as  smoothly  as  could  be  expected 
through  our  many  drinking  scrapes  with  Indians  and 
obstreperous  Canadians.  The  time  to  re-engage  came, 
and  pretty  soon  my  case  was  carried  to  the  office. 
Mr.  McJCenzie  said,  "  Well,  Larpenteur,  what  do  you 
think?  Will  you  hire  for  another  year?  "  My  reply 
was,  "  I  believe  so,  sir."  "  Well,"  said  he,  "  if  you 
wish  to  remain,  I  will  allow  you  $350  for  this  year." 
"  All  right,"  was  my  answer.  And  now  for  another 
year  in  the  American  Fur  Company. 

My  first  year '  was  not  yet  up,  but  all  engagements 
had  to  be  made  before  the  arrival  of  the  steamer,  and 
the  shipping  of  the  returns;  so  that,  in  case  any  men 
declined  to  re-engage,  they  could  be  sent  off  by  one  or 
another  conveyance.  All  the  clerks  were  re-engaged 
except  Moncrevie,  who  happened  to  be  discharged. 
Nothing  took  place  worth  mentioning  until  the  fall,* 

»  His  first  year  in  the  A.  F.  Co.  would  be  up  July  3,  1835;  and 
he  is  now  re-engaged  for  1835-36. 
*  Oct.   19,  1834,  "when  the  Trappers  returned  from  hunting 


FIRST  HOMICIDE.  7/ 

after  the  return  of  some  of  the  free  trappers.  There 
was  a  half-breed  family  named  Deschamps,'  consist- 
ing of  ten  persons,  among  whom  were  the  old  man  and 
three  grown  sons,  who  were  in  the  habit  of  trapping, 
and  were  the  very  worst  of  subjects;  and  another 
half-breed  family,  headed  by  Jack  Rem.*  He  had  two 
sons-in-law,  and  a  son  19  years  of  age,  all  of  whom 
started  on  their  trapping  expeditions  together,  and  re- 
turned together.  It  was  customary,  on  their  return 
from  a  hunt,  to  have  a  spree;  and  as  they  had  been 
lucky  the  hunt  was  big,  and  so  was  the  spree.  They 
soon  began  a  fight  in  which  Jack  Rem's  son  had  his 
brains  knocked  out  with  the  butt  of  a  gun  by  one  of 
the  numerous  and  wicked  Deschamps  family.  Mr. 
Lafiferrier,''  who  was  at  the  time  the  trader  and  store- 
keeper, became  alarmed,  for  they  began  to  threaten 
his  life,  and  attempted  to  get  liquor  of  him  without 
paying  for  it.  Mr.  Hamilton,  who  was  still  in  charge, 
did  not  know  what  to  do  to  stop  them,  but  at  last  ad- 
vised Mr.  Lafiferrier  to  put  laudanum  in  the  whiskey. 
This  advice  was  followed ;  they  soon  fell  down  and  lay 

after  having  sold  there  Beaver  they  got  in  to  a  Drinking  spree 
and  murdered  a  young  man  aged  of  18  years,"  says  Orig.  Journ. 

'  Much  more  of  this  "  numerous  and  wicked"  family  beyond, 
when  we  come  to  their  violent  deaths. 

•  This  does  not  look  right,  but  I  can  make  nothing  else  of 
copy — possibly  it  should  stand  Jacques  Rene. 

^  Spelling  wavers  in  copy — perhaps  intended  for  Leferrailleur. 


78  OTHER  INCIDENTS. 

Stretched  out  on  the  ground  in  every  direction,  so 
sound  asleep  that  Mr.  Hamilton  became  alarmed, 
thinking  the  dose  had  been  so  strong  that  they  would 
never  wake  up  again.  I  happened  not  to  be  there  at 
the  time,  having  that  afternoon  gone  down  to  the  gar- 
den, whidh  was  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  distant 
from  the  fort.  Mr.  Hamilton  came  there  as  fast  as  he 
could,  half  scared  to  death,  to  tell  me  the  story.  I 
could  not  help  laughing  at  the  idea,  and  we  immedi- 
ately returned  to  the  fort.  On  my  arrival  I  saw  this 
amiable  family  scattered  along  the  river  bank,  still  fast 
asleep;  but  at  dark  they  awakened  and  went  home  to 
Fort  William,  where  all  those  families  were  kept,  as 
were  also  some  of  the  Company's  men  who  had 
squaws,  and  the  horse  guard  with  the  horses.  Thus 
this  spree  ended.  Nothing  remarkable  took  place 
until  May  of  the  following  spring  [1835].®     It  was 

*  But  the  Orig.  Joum.  has  a  number  of  incidents  prior  to  May, 
1835.     I  transcribe  them  in  substance: 

Nov.  jj,  1834.  A  party  of  Assiniboines  under  La  Lance  went 
to  war  with  the  Grosventres  of  the  Missouri;  on  the  23d  they 
were  surrounded,  30  of  them  killed,  and  10  wounded;  fate  of  La 
Lance  uncertain,  but  he  is  supposed  to  have  been  killed.  It  was 
a  sad  sight — that  of  the  wounded,  who  reached  Fort  Union  after 
a  long  journey,  with  hardly  anything  to  eat  and  the  thermome- 
ter below  zero.  The  Assiniboines  were  greatly  excited  over  this 
defeat,  and  soon  dispatched  several  war  parties  to  surround  and 
if  possible  destroy  the  Grosventre  village. 

Nov.  so,  1834.     Eclipse  of  the  sun  noted  at  11  a.  m.    This  I 


OTHER  INCIDENTS.  79 

customary,  when  buffalo  got  too  far  from  the  fort, 
for  hunters  to  camp  out,  and  from  time  to  time  send 
in  loads  of  fresh  meat.  On  such  occasions  all  their 
families  also  went  into  camp  to  make  dried  meat  for 
their  own  use,  and  also  for  a  kind  of  recreation.  Such 
a  camp  was  called  by  the  half-breeds  of  the  north,  who 

have  verified,  and  the  important  statement  serves  to  fix  Larpen- 
teur's  chronologfy  thus  far.  He  says  that  the  fight  began  at  that 
hour  and  lasted  all  day.  On  Dec.  22  he  is  informed  by  a  trader 
that  the  Assiniboines  only  killed  4  and  wounded  7  Grosventres. 
The  latter,  after  the  fight,  stripped  the  Assiniboines.  La  Lance 
was  dissected  and  his  flesh  given  to  the  children  to  eat;  his  bones 
were  bruised  and  boiled  in  a  pot,  and  a  bladder  was  filled  with 
the  marrow  extracted  from  them.  It  appears  that  he  had  first 
been  taken  prisoner,  and  that  before  he  was  put  to  death  he  was. 
subjected  to  "  the  most  cruel  act  that  Indians  can  ever  invent."" 

Mar.  28,  i8js-  Fort  Assiniboine,  an  outpost  of  Fort  Union, 
was  abandoned,  and  on  Apr.  2  Mr.  D.  Lamont  and  the  traders 
from  that  post  arrived  at  Union  by  the  .steamer  which  had  been 
obliged  to  winter  at  Assiniboine  on  account  of  low  water.  The 
returns  they  brought  for  the  winter  of  1834-35  were:  179  red 
foxes;  1,646  prairie  do.;  18  cross  do. ;  74 badgers;  269  muskrats;  8g 
white  wolves;  196  white  hares;  5  swanskins;  4,200  buffalo  robes; 
37  dressed  cowskins;  12  dressed  calfskins;  450  salted  tongues; 
3,500  lbs.  powdered  and  3,000  lbs.  dried  buffalo  meat. 

Apr.  24,  i8ss-  Mr.  James  Kipp  arrived  at  Union  from  Fort 
McKenzie  (the  Blackfoot  post  near  the  mouth  of  Maria's  river). 
His  returns  for  the  season  were:  9,000  robes;  1,020  beavers;  40 
otters;  2,800  muskrats;  180  wolves;  200  red  foxes;  1,500  prairie- 
dogs;  19  bears;  390  buffalo  tongues;  all  of  which  were  brought 
down  in  a  keel  boat  and  two  Mackinaws,  with  a  force  of  35  men. 

May  I,  i8sS-  Having  thus  written  up  his  Journal,  at  this  date 
Larpenteur  goes  on  with  regular  day-by-day  entries  for  1835. 


80         EXPRESS  FROM  FORT  CLARK. 

spoke  broken  French,  mixed  with  many  Cree  words, 
"  nick-ah-wah " ;  and  to  go  into  it  was  "  aller 
en  nick-ah-wah,"  It  happened  that,  in  this  camp, 
there  was  a  beautiful  half-breed  by  the  name  of 
Baptiste  Gardepie.*  The  Deschamps  family,  who 
were  there  also,  got  jealous  of  him  and,  it  was  re- 
ported, had  attempted  to  take  his  life.  I  will  now 
relate  an  affray  which  took  place  at  the  fort,  while 
they  were  in  camp. 

In  the  spring,  after  the  trade  was  over,  some  strag- 
glers always  remained  in  camp  at  the  fort,  in  spite  of 
all  we  could  do  to  get  them  off;  for  they  were  great 
nuisances,  and  it  was  dangerous  for  them  to  camp  at 
the  fort  on  account  of  hostile  Indians.  Early  in  May 
an  express  arrived  from  Fort  Clark  ^"  by  which  we 
were  apprised  that  there  would  soon  be  a  large  war- 
party  of  Gros  Ventres  and  Mandans  at  Fort  Union. 
The  chief  wished  to  inform  us  of  this  and  to  warn  our 
young  men  not  to  sleep  in  any  of  the  Indian  lodges; 
for,  should  there  be  any  at  the  fort  when  the  war-party 
came,  they  would  shoot  into  the  lodges,  but  would  not 
like  to  kill  any  of  the  whites.     So  the  young  men  were 

'  Jean  Baptiste  Gardepied  (same  word  as  now  Gari^py) :  See 
my  Henry  Joum.,  1897,  p.  872,  for  one  of  the  name  who  went 
with  the  overland  Astorians  in  181 1. 

">  The  important  post  of  the  A.  F.  Co.  at  the  Mandans,  for  trad- 
ing with  those  Indians,  the  Grosventres  de  Missouri,  etc.  More 
about  it  in  the  sequel. 


WAR  PARTY— FATALITIES.  8 1 

notified,  and  for  my  part  I  did  all  I  could  to  induce 
Mr.  Hamilton  to  let  the  Indians  sleep  in  the  Indian 
house,  but  he  would  not  Hsten  to  me.  There  were 
only  two  lodges  of  Indians,  and  almost  every  night, 
unknown  to  the  old  gentleman,  I  let  them  into  the 
fort.  But,  fearing  to  be  caught  at  this  and  thus  dis- 
please my  boss,  some  nights  I  made  them  stay  out- 
side. It  happened  to  be  one  of  these  nights  that  the 
war  party  of  Gros  Ventres  arrived  about  twelve 
o'clock  and  fired  into  the  two  lodges.  We  heard  the 
shots  plainly,  and  immediately  the  cry  of  "  Open  the 
door!  " — for  there  had  been  three  white  men  in  the 
lodges  at  the  time.  On  our  entering  them  to  ascer- 
tain what  damage  had  been  done  we  found  one  squaw 
dead,  shot  plumb  through  the  heart;  one  shot  through 
both  thighs;  one  through  the  calf  of  her  leg,  smashing 
the  shin  bone;  an  old  woman  shot  through  the  wrist; 
a  little  boy  12  years  of  age  shot  through  the  bowels; 
and  one  of  the  white  men  with  two  balls  through  the 
left  thigh,  a  little  above  the  knee,  cutting  the  artery. 
He  died  the  same  morning  at  ten  o'clock;  the  squaw 
shot  through  the  thighs  died  two  days  afterward,  and 
the  little  boy  the  next  day — sad  indeed  was  this  affair! 
Mr.  Hamilton  repented  not  letting  them  into  the  fort, 
but  it  was  too  late — the  damage  had  been  done.  But 
the  old  Englishman  was  soon  to  see  what  could  not  be 
called  fun,  and  be  badly  put  to  his  trumps. 


82  ANOTHER  WAR  PARTY. 

About  a  week  later  a  party  of  Assiniboines,  who  had 
gone  to  war  on  the  Gros  Ventres  and  Mandans,  ar- 
rived at  Fort  Union;  and  about  ten  o'clock  at  night  a 
rap  was  heard  at  the  door.  As  I  was  still  doorkeeper, 
I  went  to  see  who  was  there.  On  asking  who  they 
were,  they  replied  that  they  were  a  war  party  of  20 
men,  on  their  return  from  the  Gros  Ventres.  At  this 
time  all  the  wounded  and  well  Indians  were  inside  the 
fort,  and  we  were  but  few  whites,  as  most  of  our  men 
were  in  camp.  Not  thinking  it  prudent  to  let  the  In- 
dians in,  for  fear  of  a  row,  I  apprised  Mr.  Hamilton  of 
the  arrival;  but  he  told  me  to  let  them  in  if  there  were 
but  20  men.  I  suggested  to  him  to  send  them  to  Fort 
William,  where  there  was  no  one  at  the  time,  the 
families  having  all  gone  to  camp;  but,  as  usual,  he 
would  not  listen  to  me,  and  in  I  let  them.  Soon  after- 
ward more  knocking  at  the  door  was  heard,  and  the 
Indians  in  the  fort  said  it  was  the  balance  of  their 
party,  consisting  of  70  men.  I  went  again  to  Mr. 
Hamilton,  who  said,  "  Well,  we  may  as  well  let  the 
balance  in,  for  it  may  make  matters  worse  to  send 
them  to  the  other  fort."  A  little  while  after  their  en- 
trance something  unpleasant  was  evidently  going  to 
happen,  and  from  what  I  could  understand  it  became 
necessary  to  adopt  means  for  our  safety.  So  I  in- 
formed Mr.  Hamilton  of  what  was  going  on,  upon 
which  the  old  gentleman,  who  had  a  sound  old  Eng- 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  DEFENSE.  83 

lish  head,  told  me  to  bring  eight  or  ten  muskets  out 
of  the  bastion  and  put  them  on  the  men's  table  in  the 
dining  room;  also  to  put  one  of  the  smallest  cannon 
in  the  passage  of  the  main  quarters.  This  was  to  be 
done  with  all  care  possible,  that  the  Indians  should 
know  nothing  of  it  until  the  proper  time  came ;  for  if 
they  saw  us  make  such  preparations,  they  might  nip 
his  plan  in  the  bud.  Very  soon  we  were  ready;  the 
window  blinds  of  the  dining  room  were  opened,  and 
there  could  be  seen  by  the  three  candles  the  bright 
muskets,  plenty  of  cartridges  scattered  over  the  table, 
and  four  men  ready  for  action.  The  piece  of  artillery 
was  rolled  back  and  forward  in  the  passage,  making  a 
tremendous  noise,  and  two  men  mounted  guard  with 
muskets  and  fixed  bayonets.  Such  preparations  the 
Indians  had  never  seen  or  heard  of  before,  and  they 
became,  in  their  turn,  more  frightened  than  we  had 
been.  They  had  been  very  lively  on  the  move  and 
very  insulting  at  times,  but  they  soon  lay  down  and 
went  to  sleep,  or  pretended  to,  so  that  all  became 
suddenly  quiet.  Still,  we  did  not  feel  quite  safe;  we 
thought  that  perhaps  they  were  shamming  and  that 
they  might  try  what  they  could  do  before  morning. 
This  was  about  midnight.  To  my  great  surprise,  just 
at  the  peep  of  day,  I  was  called  up;  that  was  easily 
done,  for  I  was  wide  awake,  with  all  my  clothes  on. 
The  partisan  said  that  the  Indians  wished  to  go  out, 


84  HOW  THE  FRIGHT  ENDED. 

and  asked  me  to  open  the  door  for  them;  and  in  less 
than  ten  minutes  not  one  of  the  party  was  left  in  the 
fort.  One  may  imagine  how  relieved  all  hands  were, 
when  informed  of  this,  for  most  of  them  had  almost 
made  up  their  minds  that  this  would  be  their  last 
night.  As  it  was  yet  early,  I  told  them  to  go  and  take 
a  nap.  I  then  went  to  Mr.  Hamilton's  room,  and, 
after  I  had  informed  him  of  this,  he  said,  "  Well,  Mr. 
Larpenteur,  what  do  you  think  of  my  stratagem?  " 
To  which  I  replied  that  I  felt  confident  it  had  been  the 
means  of  saving  our  lives.  "  Yes,  yes,"  said  he; 
"  now  go  to  the  cellar,  fill  this  bottle  with  that  good 
Madeira;  we  will  have  a  glass,  and  then  you  will  have 
time  to  take  a  little  rest  before  breakfast,  for  I  pre- 
sume you  have  not  slept  much."  I  obeyed  his  orders, 
took  a  drink  of  Madeira,  and  went  to  bed.  Thus 
ended  the  fright. 

As  I  have  had  frequent  occasion  to  mention  Mr. 
"Hamilton,""  I  will  introduce  him  to  the  reader.  His 

"  Dr.  Matthews  kindly  contributes  the  following  interesting 
note  on  Mr.  Hamilton:  "  I  never  met  this  gentleman;  but  have 
heard  much  about  him,  and,  when  I  have  described  him,  you 
will  understand  why  he  was  an  object  of  wonder  and  gossip  to 
the  rude  inhabitants  of  the  Upper  Missouri  valley.  He  was 
an  Englishman,  of  high  social  position  at  home,  who  for  some 
reason  saw  fit  to  bury  himself  in  the  wilderness,  though  he 
never  fell  into  the  negligent  habits  of  the  country.  Rumor 
made  him  a  scion  of  nobility.  He  took  no  one  into  his  confi- 
dence and  was  reticent  as  to  his  antecedents.    He  wore  none 


MR.   HAMILTON.  85 

real  name  was  Archibald  Palmer.  He  was  an  Eng- 
lish nobleman  who,  from  some  cause  or  other  un- 
known to  many,  had  been  obliged  to  leave  England 
and  come  to  America,  apparently  without  any  means. 
How  Mr.  McKenzie  became  acquainted  with  him  I 
am  not  able  to  say.  Mr.  Hamilton  was  a  man  of  un- 
common education,  conversant  with  many  subjects, 
and  quite  capable  of  keeping  books.  As  Mr.  McKen- 
zie required  a  bookkeeper  at  Fort  Union,  he  made 
arrangements  with  Mr.  Hamilton  to  come  htvi. 
What  salary  he  received  I  never  learned.  Mr.  Ham- 
ilton— as  I  shall  continue  to  call  him,  for  his  real  name 
was  not  known  until  after  he  left  Fort  Union  and  his 
English  difficulties  were  over,  when  he  resumed  his 
proper  name — was  a  man  of  fifty,  who  had  habitually 
lived  high,  in  consequence  of  which  he  had  the  gout. 
This  brought  him  to  the  two  extremes  of  being  either 

but  the  finest  clothes,  and  always  dressed  in  the  latest  Lon- 
don fashions.  Every  year,  boxes  were  sent  from  London  to 
St.  Louis  and  thence  forwarded  to  him  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Yellowstone.  Some  of  the  French  Canadians  have  told  me,  in 
tones  of  awe,  that  he  took  a  bath  and  put  on  a  clean  shirt 
every  day.  He  wora  ruffled  shirt-fronts,  had  a  great  gold  chain 
around  his  neck,  and  was  always  polished,  scented,  and  oiled  to 
the  highest  degree.  Long  as  he  lived  in  the  country,  he  never 
overcame  his  repugnance  to  Indians,  whom  he  called  '  beasts.'  I 
have  heard  a  tale  of  his  angrily  throwing  a  beautiful  colored  silk 
handkerchief  (he  carried  no  other  kind)  into  the  fire,  because  an 
admiring  Indian  had  picked  it  up  to  examine  it.  He  is  men- 
tioned in  Catlin's  N,  A.  Indians,  vol.  i,  p.  21." 


86  MORE  STORIES  TO  COME. 

very  pleasant  or  very  crabbed,  but,  upon  the  whole, 
kept  him  crabbed;  so  he  was  not  liked,  though  much 
respected.  He  remained  a  few  years  at  Union,  and 
died  in  St.  Louis  as  cashier  of  the  American  Fur 
Company.  I  must  say  I  got  aldng  remarkably  well 
with  him  and  was  very  sorry  to  learn  of  his  death. 
Now  I  will  return  to  my  stories,  of  which  I  have  many 
in  store. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

(1835-36.) 
FORT  union:  continued. 

A  WEEK  or  ten  days  after  the  above-mentioned 
fright,  the  hunters  were  ordered  to  return;  the  camp 
was  broken  up,  and  all  the  half-breed  families  went 
into  their  former  quarters  in  Fort  William,  as  well 
as  some  of  the  company's  men  who  had  families,  and 
were  to  take  care  of  the  horses.  When  they  had  all 
arrived  and  were  reorganized,  a  conspiracy  was  got- 
ten up,  unknown  to  me,  to  kill  old  man  Deschamps 
and  his  eldest  son,  Francois.  The  conspirators  were 
Baptiste  Gardepie,  the  two  sons-in-law  of  Jack  Rem, 
and  Mr.  Lafiferrier — the  latter  a  great  hypocrite.  This 
was  in  July,  1835.  As  Deschamps  used  to  come  to 
our  room  almost  every  morning  after  breakfast,  the 
killing  was  to  take  place  there.  For  this  murderous 
work  a  rifle  barrel  was  placed  in  the  chimney  corner, 
and  LafTerrier  put  his  dirk  under  his  pillow,  for 
Gardepie,  who  was  to  commence  the  job.  Frangois 
Deschamps,  the  son,  was  about  2^  or  28  years  old — 

87 


88  PUT  TO  THE  QUESTION. 

a  fine  stout  young  man;  he  was  then  interpreter  for 
Fort  Union,  and  ate  at  the  table  with  the  boss  and  the 
clerks.  Soon  after  breakfast  the  father  and  son  came 
into  our  room,  where  the  conspirators  were  already 
assembled.  It  was  a  fine  July  mornmg  *  and  I,  know- 
ing nothing  of  this,  had  taken  a  walk  alone  down  by 
the  garden  which  was  already  progressing  well,  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  fort.  After  some 
little  conversation,  which  naturally  took  place  before 
coming  to  the  point,  Gardepie  got  up  and  addressed 
the  old  man,  saying,  "  Deschamps,  I  want  to  know 
now  whether  you  will  make  peace  or  war  with  me; 
you  have  frequently  attempted  my  life,  and  I  find  it 
necessary  to  ask  you  this  question — now,  what  is  your 

■  Thursday,  July  23, 1835,  is  the  date  of  this  homicide  given  in  the 
Orig.  Joum.,  which  narrates  the  tragedy  much  more  circumstan- 
tially, but  to  the  identical  effect.  The  extermination  of  the  rest 
of  the  Deschamps  family  comes  later  on.  Frangois  sen.,  with 
his  three  sons,  Frangois  jun.,  Charles,  and  Joseph,  had  returned 
to  Fort  Union  from  their  trapping  on  Wednesday,  June  10,  1835. 
The  quarrel  between  Franjois  junior  and  Gardepied  Larpenteur 
understood  to  be  about  a  squaw  belonging  to  Gardepied.  Fran- 
cois fell  in  love  with  her,  and  his  father  advised  him  to  offer 
Gardepied  a  horse  for  her.  This  grieved  Gardepied,  who  swore 
that  either  he  or  a  Deschamps  should  die  for  it.  He  dared  any 
one  of  them  to  fight ;  they  would  not  accept  the  challenge,  but 
one  of  them  sought  to  kill  Gardepied,  and  would  have  shot  him 
through  a  window  had  not  an  Indian  interfered.  Next  day 
Gardepied  made  up  his  mind  to  have  a  settlement  with  the  Des- 
champs; and  how  he  effected  it  Larpenteur  proceeds  to  say. 


OLD   DESCHAMPS   KILLED.  89 

answer?  "  To  which  old  Deschamps  replied,  "  I  will 
never  make  peace  with  you  as  long  as  there  is  a  drop 
of  blood  in  my  veins."  Some  blood  was  quickly  out 
of  his  veins,  for  Gardepie  immediately  seized  the  rifle 
barrel  and  struck  a  fatal  blow  on  the  old  man's  head. 
Then  he  turned  round  to  the  son,  and,  with  another 
blow,  knocked  him  down.  But  this  wound  not  being 
a  mortal  one,  Franqois  made  out  to  creep  under  one 
of  the  beds,  where  he  begged  for  his  life  until  the  con- 
spirators took  pity  on  him.  Gardepie  was  induced  to 
desist  from  killing  him;  but,  not  thinking  that  the 
father  had  been  mortally  struck,  he  reached  for  the 
dirk  and  ripped  the  old  man's  bowels  out — which 
operation  was  not  necessary.  All  this  was  done  in  a 
very  short  time.  Returning  from  the  garden  and  ap- 
proaching our  quarters  I  observed  that  the  curtains, 
were  down,  which  was  an  unusual  thing,  and  when  I 
came  to  open  the  door  I  found  it  locked  on  the  inside. 
At  my  request  it  was  immediately  opened  to  admit 
me,  but  directly  closed  again.  The  door  being  shut 
and  curtains  down,  I  could  not  at  first  discover  what 
had  taken  place,  but  soon  saw  a  sheet  spread  on  the 
floor  and  knew  there  was  a  corpse  under  it.  On  look- 
ing about,  I  saw  young  Franqois  Deschamps  sitting 
at  a  table  with  his  head  held  down  in  his  hands,  which 
were  still  all  bloody.  No  one  else  was  in  the  room 
but  Gardepie,  who  said,  "  I  have  settled  with  the  old 


90  TEMPORARY  TRUCE. 

man,  and  I  would  have  done  the  same  with  this  cow- 
ard here,  had  he  not  begged  so  hard  for  his  life."  I 
made  no  reply,  though,  of  course,  I  pitied  the  poor 
fellow,  who  was  so  near  the  corpse  of  his  father,  and 
uncertain  as  yet  of  his  own  life.  It  was  a  sad  sight. 
Mr.  Lafferrier,  who,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  was 
a  great  hypocrite  and  had  thus  acquired  his  popu- 
larity among  the  Indians  and  half-breeds,  had  gone 
to  the  fort  with  the  pipe  of  peace,  to  try  to  bring  about 
a  reconciliation  between  those  two  families;  and  in 
this  he  finally  succeeded.  The  old  man  was  buried 
the  same  day,  and  to  all  appearances  everything  went 
on  as  usual. 

It  was  thought  that  this  peace  would  last,  as  Jack 
Rem's  family  was  considered  revenged  by  the  death 
of  the  old  man,  and  had  thus  been  made  nearly  equal 
in  strength  to  that  of  the  Deschamps.  What  after- 
ward induced  us  to  think  the  peace  would  be  kept  was 
that  Gardepie  went  on  a  beaver  hunt  with  the  three 
young  Deschamps  and  never  offered  to  molest  them. 
Michel  Gravel  and  Little  Frenchman  were  the  names 
of  Jack  Rem's  two  sons-in-law  who  went  the  follow- 
ing fall  [1835]  on  their  hunt  on  Milk  river,  which 
abounded  with  beaver,  and,  like  all  beaver  trappers, 
fell  in  with  a  war  party  of  Blackfeet,  by  whom  they 
were  both  killed.  This  accident  reduced  Jack's  family 
considerably  and  enabled  the  Deschamps  to  show 


CHARACTER  OF  GAUCH6.  9I 

their  wicked  dispositions  again.  But  before  describ- 
ing a  big  battle  which  took  place  the  following 
summer  [1836],  I  will  relate  a  little  story  to  show  you 
how  cunningly  and  quickly  Indians  can  work  destruc- 
tion, and  also  give  the  character  of  Gauche,  Robert 
Campbell's  chief,  whom  I  have  already  called  Co- 
han (Hurry  Up).  Gauche  was  his  French  name,  which 
means  Left  Hand.  But  by  his  tribe  he  was  called 
Meenah-yau-henno,''  meaning  the  One  who  Holds 
the  Knife — with  which  they  said  he  could  cut  a  rock 
in  two,  owing  to  his  strong  medicine.  As  I  have 
already  remarked,  Hurry  Up  was  feared  by  all  the 
surrounding  tribes,  and  was  called  by  the  whites  the 
Wild  Bonaparte.  The  old  fellow  had  been  so  success- 
ful in  his  warfare  that  he  found  no  difficulty  in  raising 
the  number  of  warriors  he  wanted.  At  this  time  he 
had  raised  a  party  of  250  to  300,  to  make  war  on  the 
Blackfeet,  who  were  very  rich  in  horses.  Being  con- 
sidered so  great  a  medicine  man  and  warrior,  he  had 
no  trouble  with  his  young  men,  and  could  order  the 
rush  as  he  thought  proper.  On  this  their  success 
always  depends,  for  Indians  seldom  stand  a  long 
battle,  and  when  they  do  it  does  not  amount  to  much. 
About  the  middle  of  March  the  old  man  came  within 

'See  note  ',  p.  55,  where  it  is  said  that  De  Smet  gives  this 
name  as  Mina-yougha.  In  Riggs'  Dictionary  mina  =  knife,  and 
yuhd  —  to  have,  own,  possess. — W.  M. 


92  HIS  GLORIOUS  CAMPAIGN. 

one  day's  march  of  Fort  McKenzie,  where  he  fell  on 
the  trail  of  a  camp  of  Blackfeet,  containing  about 
30  lodges,  on  the  way  to  their  fort  to  make  their  last 
spring  trade.  The  old  fellow  could  tell  by  the  looks 
of  things  in  their  camping-place  that  they  were  rich 
in  trade-goods  and  in  horses,  and  that  a  big  drunk 
would  be  sure  to  take  place  ;  for  the  Blackfeet  are 
great  drunkards.  After  the  chief  had  well  exam- 
ined everything  about  the  camping  grounds  he  went 
to  work  at  his  medicine.  He  then  told  his  people 
that  he  had  seen  a  great  deal  of  blood  on  the  enemy's 
side,  but  very  little  on  theirs,  and  that  most,  if  not  all 
of  them,  would  return  on  horseback  with  many  scalps, 
if  they  would  obey  his  commands.  The  old  fellow 
was  not  mistaken.  They  soon  approached  the  Black- 
foot  camp,  which  was  near  the  fort,  making  ready  for 
a  big  spree.  It  was  Gauche's  intention  to  rush  on  the 
camp  when  they  should  be  at  the  height  of  the  spree, 
too  drunk  to  defend  themselves.  When  it  was  near 
daylight  the  order  was  given  for  the  rush,  and  so  well 
was  it  executed  that  in  a  very  short  time  few  were  left 
alive  in  camp,  and  all  the  horses  were  captured  with 
ease — as  we  learned,  upward  of  300  head.  So  great 
and  glorious  was  the  old  man's  campaign  ;  and  then 
it  was  "  Co-han!  hurry  up!  let  us  go  home  and  dance 
the  scalp  dance  " — for  many  were  the  scalps  they  had 
taken  of  men,  women,  and  children.     We  will  let 


TREACHERY  MEDITATED.  93 

them  go  and  I  will  return  to  the  little  story  I  prom- 
ised to  relate. 

There  was  an  old  Assiniboine  who  had  remained 
after  our  last  trade,  with  the  intention,  as  he  said,  to 
go  down  to  Fort  Clark  in  the  steamer,  although  no 
peace  as  yet  had  been  made  between  the  Assiniboines 
and  the  Gros  Ventres.  In  the  meantime  a  war  party 
of  about  150  Blackfeet,  all  on  horseback,  came  to 
Fort  Union  in  search  of  the  Assiniboines,  to  be 
revenged  on  the  camp  of  old  Co-han  ;  this  was  about 
the  ist  of  June/  and  at  that  season  men  were  always 
scarce  in  the  fort,  as  most  of  them  were  required  to 
take  down  the  returns.  So  we  would  not  allow  more 
than  20  Indians  at  a  time  in  the  fort.  The  partisan 
and  other  important  men  in  the  Blackfoot  party  com- 
menced by  making  a  great  deal  of  the  old  man,  smok- 
ing with  him,  and  telling  him  that  they  were  in  search 
of  the  Assiniboines  with  the  intention  of  making 
peace  with  them,  and  that  they  would  be  very  glad 
if  he  would  go  with  them.  They  also  said  they  had 
some  fine  horses  which  were  intended  for  the  Assini- 
boines, in  case  they  would  make  peace,  and  if  he 
would  go  with  them  they  would  make  him  a  present 
of  a  nice  pony.  They  did  all  they  could  to  persuade 
him  to  go,  and  we  did  all  we  could  to  put  him  out  of 

'June  12,  1836,  by  Orig.  Journ.,  where  a  long  story  is  made  of 
the  treacherous  murder  of  the  poor  old  Assiniboine. 


94  COWARDLY  MURDER. 

the  notion.  Finally  the  time  came  for  them  to  start, 
and  not  finding  the  old  fellow  quite  decided,  they  sent 
in  a  beautiful  pony,  saddled  and  bridled,  telling  him 
it  should  be  his  if  he  would  come  along.  The  old 
man  was  tempted,  mounted  the  pony,  and  started. 
By  this  time  most  of  the  party  had  lelt,  and  were 
seated  on  the  hills  back  of  the  fort,  awaiting  the  rest, 
and  expecting  that  the  old  Assiniboine  would  be 
along  with  them;  there  were  also  12  or  15  young  men 
mounted  on  ponies,  ready  apparently  to  serve  as  an 
escort  for  the  old  man.  As  soon  as  I  had  turned  him 
out — for  I  was  still  the  doorkeeper — I  made  haste  to 
run  up  on  the  bastion  to  see  what  would  happen.  The 
escort  had  not  gone  over  200  yards  from  the  fort  be- 
fore they  fired  a  volley  into  the  old  man,  who  fell  dead 
off  his  pony,  and  in  less  than  no  time  was  scalped. 
After  they  had  all  reached  the  hills  they  made  us  signs 
that  there  was  no  danger  for  us,  and  disappeared.  I 
then  took  a  party  of  six  or  seven  men,  wrapped  the 
old  man  in  his  robe,  and  stuck  him  up  in  a  large  elm 
tree  to  dry,  as  this  was  their  own  custom. 

Now,  reader,  make  ready  for  the  battle,  as  it  will 
soon  come  off.     In  the  latter  part  of  June,*  shortly 

*  June  28,  1836,  is  the  date  given  in  the  Orig.  Joum,,  in  a  long 
special  article  headed  "  Distruction  of  the  Des  Champ.s  family," 
no  doubt  the  most  circumstantial  and  reliable  we  possess.  As 
old  Deschamps  was  the  one  who  dispatched  Governor  Robert 


READY  FOR  BATTLE.  95 

after  the  last-mentioned  affray  took  place,  the  com- 
pany's steamboat  arrived.  After  her  departure,  it 
was  customary  to  have  a  big  drunk  throughout.  At 
this  time  there  were  between  60  and  70  men  at  the 
fort.  The  half-breeds  who  were  in  Fort  William  with 
some  of  our  own  men  also  got  gloriously  drunk. 
About  midnight  old  Mother  Deschamps  said  to  her 
children,  "  Now,  my  sons,  if  you  are  men,  you  will 
revenge  the  death  of  your  father."      This   struck 

Semple,  in  the  massacre  on  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  June  19, 
1816,  the  fate  of  this  family  of  rakehellions  becomes  a  matter  of 
some  historic  moment,  aside  from  the  dramatic  force  of  the  final 
tragedy.  We  have  already  seen  that  old  Frangois  Deschamps 
was  killed  by  Gardepied,  July  23,  1835,  and  Larpenteur  now 
proceeds  to  the  affair  which  finished  the  precious  progeny  from 
midnight  of  June  28,  when  it  began  with  the  killing  of  Jack  Rem 
by  the  young  Deschamps,  to  some  late  hour  of  June  29.  Sev- 
eral versions,  with  conflicting  dates,  if  any,  have  appeared  :  see 
for  example  Maximilian,  English  ed.,  1843,  p.  276,  and  my  Henry, 
1897,  p.  557,  where  my  note  is  incorrect  in  some  particulars,  and 
must  be  checked  by  the  present  account.  We  cannot  here  go 
into  the  voluminous  legal  testimony  of  the  Semple  affair;  but  it 
appears  from  the  deposition  of  Louis  Nolan,  clerk  H.  B.  Co.,  on 
p.  xlii  of  Selkirk's  Statement,  8vo,  London,  1817,  that  Deschamps 
was  the  one  who  did  kill  the  Governor,  after  the  latter  had  been 
wounded  by  Cuthbert  Grant.  I  will  transcribe  some  passages 
from  Larpenteur's  Orig.  Joum.,  neglecting  his  peculiarities  of 
spelling,  for  comparison  with  or  in  amplification  of  the  narrative 
given  above: 

"  This  wicked  family  was  obliged  to  emigfrate  from  the  Red 
river  on  account  of  its  bad  conduct.  I  have  been  informed  by 
several  persons  from  Red  river  that  in  the  time  of  the  battle  be- 


96  MIDNIGHT  ALARM. 

them  lavorably,  and  being  in  liquor  they  immediately 
killed  old  Jack  Rem,  swore  they  would  also  kill  all  the 
half-breeds  whom  they  considered  his  friends,  and 
even  threatened  the  whites  in  the  fort.  This  took 
place  about  midnight,  when  the  spree  in  Fort  Union 
had  subsided  and  all  hands  had  gone  to  sleep.  I  was 
awakened  by  loud  raps  and  voices  at  the  door,  which 
latter  I  could  distinguish  to  be  those  of  females,  cry- 
ing, "  Open  the  door!  quick — they  are  fighting — they 
have  killed  my  father."     They  were  the  widow  of 

tween  the  English  and  the  half-breeds  Frangois  Deschamps,  the 
father  of  the  family,  had  committed  the  most  cruel  acts  that  any 
human  being  can  be  guilty  of.  After  the  battle  he  was  seen  on 
the  battle  ground  with  his  gun  shooting  those  which  were 
wounded.  Some  of  those  poor  creatures  would  request  of  him 
a  little  time  to  pray,  which  he  would  allow,  in  saying,  '  Make 
haste,  you  d — d  son  of  a  b — h,'  and  when  he  thought  the  prayer 
was  long  enough  he  would  shoot  them  down  and  rob  them  of 
what  they  possessed.  It  has  also  been  reported  that  it  was  him 
that  killed  the  governor.  They  came  on  the  Missouri  about  nine 
years  ago  [ca.  1827 J,  from  which  time  they  conducted  themselves 
the  worst  that  any  family  could  do.  The  family  consisted  of  ten 
children  and  the  nephew  of  their  father,  of  which  there  were 
three  grown  sons  [Frangois  jun. ,  Charles,  and  Joseph],  and  two 
boys  of  from  fourteen  to  fifteen  years  of  age." 

It  appears  among  their  crimes  that  they  had  twice  robbed 
Fort  Union;  robbed  Mr,  Jeanisse  and  threatened  to  kill  him; 
robbed  and  whipped  Indians;  murdered  a  young  man  in  1834; 
and  habitually  committed  adultery  with  their  sisters-in-law.  Such 
deviltries  were  often  instigated  by  both  parents,  who  seem  to 
have  been  more  adept  in  crime  than  any  of  their  offspring  lived 
to  become. 


DESCHAMPS  FAMILY  DOOMED.  9/ 

Michel  Gravel  and  her  mother,  the  wife  of  Jack  Rem.* 
I  had  not  shut  the  door  before  eight  or  ten  of  our  men 
came  running  in  great  fury,  swearing  vengeance 
against  the  Deschamps  family,  all  of  whom  they 
would  destroy,  big  and  small.  They  raised  all  hands, 
and  in  a  body  went  to  Mr.  McKenzie,  of  whom  they 
demanded  arms  and  ammunition  in  angry  tones,  de- 
claring they  were  determined  to  put  an  end  to  the 
Deschamps  family.  This  demand  was  made  in  such 
terms  that  Mr.  McKenzie  could  not  well  refuse,  fear- 
ing the  consequences,  and  not  being  himself  much 
averse  to  their  intention.  Having  been  furnished 
with  a  cannon,  muskets,  and  ammunition,  they  went 

'  This  preliminary  murder  is  somewhat  differently  given  in  the 
Orig.  Journ.  Ignoring  as  before  Larpenteur's  peculiarities  of 
diction,  it  stands  as  follows  :  "  Mr,  D.  D.  Mitchell,  who  had  two 
or  three  years  ago  married  [one  of]  their  {Deschamps']  sisters, 
returned  on  the  steamboat,  and  taken  his  wife  again,  gave  them 
considerable  presents,  which  induced  them  to  believe  that  they 
would  be  supported  by  him  in  case  they  might  kick  up  a  fuss. 
Sure  enough,  next  evening  when  the  boat  landed  they  traded 
some  porcupine-work  to  the  hands  of  the  boat  for  liquor,  and 
commenced  drinking.  About  twelve  o'clock  at  night  I  was 
awakened  by  a  discharge  of  guns  from  the  old  fort  and  immedi- 
ately got  out  of  bed.  Some  one  knocked  at  the  door,  which  I 
opened;  it  was  the  daughter  of  Jack  Kipling,  who,  crying  bitterly, 
informed  me  that  the  Deschamps  had  killed  her  father,  and  shot 
at  her  and  the  men  who  were  guarding  the  horses."  Thus  the 
two  accounts  differ  as  to  who  was  killed,  unless  "  Rem"  and 
"'  Kipling  "  are  different  names  of  the  same  person. 


98  DESCHAMPS  MASSACRE. 

to  work.  But,  in  the  first  place,  all  the  horses  and 
all  the  company's  effects  were  removed  from  the  fort,, 
and  before  the  fight  commenced  the  Deschamps  were 
required  to  turn  out  their  squaws,  who  were  Assini- 
boine  women,  whom  we  did  not  want  to  kill  for  fear 
of  the  tribe.  Thinking  the  fight  would  not  take  place 
as  long  as  they  kept  in  the  squaws,  they  refused  to 
turn  them  out.  After  allowing  them  what  time  we 
thought  necessary  to  make  up  their  minds  on  this 
subject,  the  order  to  fire  was  given.  As  we  had  a 
cannon  we  supposed  they  would  not  go  into  the  bas- 
tions, and  as  we  found  their  shots  were  only  fired  out 
of  their  own  dwellings  we  aimed  altogether  at  these 
houses.  When  they  found  we  were  determined  to 
put  our  threats  into  execution  they  turned  out  their 
squaws,  who  told  us  that  we  had  already  killed  one 
man,  but  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  us  to  destroy 
them  all,  as  they  had  dug  holes  under  the  floors, 
where  our  balls  could  not  reach  them.  Yet  we  kept 
constantly  firing  into  the  houses,  until  at  last  the  old 
lady  herself  came  out  with  the  pipe  of  peace,  beggings 
for  her  life  and  that  of  her  children ;  but  she  was  shot 
through  the  heart  in  stepping  out  of  the  fort.*     As 

•  By  a  half-breed  named  J.  Mayotte.  At  that  moment  one  of 
her  sons  was  already  dead  in  the  house.  The  nephew  was  next 
shot  by  a  young  half-breed  named  Jean  Marchaud,  in  the  houset 
of  Gardepied  and  Jack  Kipling,  where  he  had  taken  refuge. 


DESCHAMPS  MASSACRE.  99 

she  was  holding  her  pipe  straight  in  front  of  her  when 
she  was  hit,  she  fell  precisely  on  top  of  it,  at  which 
the  boys  exclaimed  in  great  mirth,  "  There's  an  end 
to  the  mother  of  the  devils."  In  the  meantime  our 
firing  was  kept  up;  but  few  shots  were  heard  from 
them,  and  at  last  some  of  our  party  ventured  into  the 
fort,  thinking  they  were  all  killed;  but  that  was  a  mis- 
take. They  commenced  firing  again,  and  our  side 
made  a  double-quick  retreat ;  but  one '  of  them  was 
shot  through  the  neck  as  he  was  stooping  through 
the  small  door  of  the  fort.  It  was  by  this  time  get- 
ting rather  late  in  the  day,  and  it  was  feared  that  the 
fight  might  continue  until  night,  under  cover  of  which 
they  could  make  their  escape,  which  would  prove 
serious  to  the  Company  in  future;  and  as  the  bloody 
work  had  been  begun,  it  was  obliged  to  be  accom- 
plished. In  order  to  do  so  it  was  thought  proper  to 
set  the  fort  on  fire,  with  the  view  of  burning  them  in 
it;  but  for  fear  that  some  might  escape  through  the 
fire,  the  hunter  of  the  fort  and  several  other  good 
horsemen  were  mounted  on  the  best  horses  to  run 
them  down  like  bufifalo,  should  they  make  such  an 
attempt.     These  precautions  having  been   taken,  a 

'  This  was  one  Mayotte.  Another  half-breed,  Joseph  Vivi6  or 
Vivier,  was  shot  in  the  wrist,  and  later  killed  by  a  shot  through 
the  heart  from  Franjois,  who  had  meanwhile  taken  refuge  in  one 
of  the  bastions. 


100  DESCHAMPS  MASSACRE. 

fire  was  started;  as  the  fort  was  dry  it  soon  began  to 
blaze,  and  in  a  little  while  the  houses  were  consumed. 
We  saw  one  man  run  out  of  them  and  take  refuge 
in  the  east  bastion,  into  which  the  cannon  was  fired 
several  times,  but  the  ball  went  through  without  other 
damage  than  making  its  hole.  Meanwhile  the  fire 
stopped,  having  burned  only  one  side  of  the  fort  and 
the  houses;  so  the  bastion  stood  with  this  individual 
inside  it,  and  was  dangerous  to  approach.  One  of  our 
men  [Vivie],  wanting  to  display  his  bravery,  went 
near  it  to  get  a  good  shot  through  the  cracks;  but 
this  cost  him  his  life.  A  shot  through  the  heart  made 
him  jump  up  about  six  feet  in  the  air  and  fall  dead 
on  the  spot,  on  which  a  loud  yell  was  heard  from  the 
man  in  the  bastion.  The  firing  on  our  side  was  re- 
newed faster  than  ever,  until  it  was  found  that  no 
shot  was  fired  out  of  the  bastion,  when  some  of  the 
boldest  of  our  party  determined  to  see  if  the  individ- 
ual inside  it  was  dead  or  alive.  On  entering  the  bas- 
tion they  discovered  him  backed  up  in  one  corner; 
they  immediately  fired  and  he  fell  dead.  This  was 
Frangois  Deschamps,  the  last  survivor,  as  all  the  rest 
liad  been  burned  or  shot  in  the  houses.  After  he  was 
brought  out  we  found  that  he  had  a  broken  wrist  and 
was  out  of  ammunition.  Had  he  not  been  thus  dis- 
abled and  defenseless  he  would  probably  have  killed 
several  of  us  and  made  his  escape.     The  men  thought 


CREMATION — QUIETUDE.  101 

he  might  go,  like  the  balance,  into  flames;  so  they 
threw  him  into  the  fire  with  one  of  his  brothers,  and 
both  were  burned  to  ashes.  A  hole  was  dug,  into 
which  the  old  woman  was  put  without  any  ceremony. 
Thus  the  battle  ended,  about  sunset,  in  the  death  of 
eight  of  the  family.®  The  youngest  son,  about  ten 
years  of  age,  after  being  wounded,  was  suffered  to 
come  out;  but  he  died  the  next  day.  Such  was  the 
end  of  this  troublesome  family,  after  which  peace  and 
comfort  were  enjoyed. 

Now,  as  I  have  remarked,  all  was  quieted.  Out- 
fits were  made  up  and  started  for  the  Blackfeet  and 
Crows,  and  we  were  left  with  none  but  the  men 
allotted  for  Fort  Union,  numbering  about  30,  all  told. 
These  were  assigned  to  their  several  duties,  including 
the  horse  guard,  for  which  a  Mexican,  a  Dutchman, 
and  a  Canadian  named  Tibeau  were  appointed.  The 
Mexican  was  not  fit  for  anything  else;  the  Dutchman 
was  very  green  in  one  sense,  and  very  white  in  an- 
other, as  will  be  seen  presently.  All  went  on  peace- 
ably until  about  the  middle  of  September  [1836], 
when  the  Mexican  thought  he  would  take  a  ride  back 
to  Mexico  on  the  best  horse  in  the  band,  and  picked 

* "  Not  a  crueler  death  than  they  deserved,"  says  the  Orig. 
Journ.,  "  but  much  crueler  than  I  wished  to  witness.  Their  sis- 
ter, the  wife  of  Mr.  Mitchell,  and  a  younger  sister  of  hers  went  to 
the  Blackfeet  with  her  husband,  also  a  little  brother  of  about 
five  years  of  age;  the  elder  boy  was  taken  to  St.  Louis." 


I02  STORY  OF  THE  TWO  THIEVES. 

out  the  green  Dutchman  to  assist  him  in  the  execu- 
tion of  his  plans.  But  it  seems  that  they  both  were 
tolerably  green.  On  one  fine  day  they  proposed  to 
Tibeau  to  go  to  their  dinner  first,  saying  that  they 
would  not  be  long,  and  that  he  could  go  afterward  and 
stay  in  the  fort  as  long  as  he  pleased.  The  proposi- 
tion was  accepted  by  Tibeau,  and  off  started  the  two 
gentlemen, who, sure  enough,  were  not  gone  long;  and 
immediately  on  their  return  Tibeau  went  to  his  dinner. 
At  this  early  time  the  guard  was  kept  up  more  with 
a  view  to  prevent  the  horses  from  straying  away  than 
for  fear  of  their  being  stolen  by  hostile  Indians. 
This  induced  Tibeau  to  delay;  but,  fearing  that  he 
might  be  hurried  out  of  the  fort  by  the  proper 
authorities,  which  he  had  reason  to  believe  would  be 
done  rather  roughly,  he  at  last  started  back.  On  his 
return  to  the  guard  he  could  see  neither  of  the  two 
men;  but,  thinking  that  they  might  have  gone  a  little 
way,  made  nothing  of  it  and  began  to  look  around. 
Still  seeing  nothing  of  them,  he  commenced  to  hallo; 
but  no  answer  was  heard.  Then  he  began  to  surmise 
that  things  were  not  all  right,  the  men  having  been 
so  willing  to  remain,  and  thought  he  would  examine 
the  band  of  horses.  He  soon  discovered  that  the  two 
best  American  horses  were  missing.  Yet,  as  all  the 
men  were  in  the  habit  of  strolling  in  search  of  ante- 
lope, and  sometimes  for  pleasure,  he  waited  a  while, 


STORY  OF  THE  TWO  THIEVES.  I03 

thinking  they  would  soon  make  their  appearance ;  but 
no  one  came,  and  he  finally  went  to  report  the  matter. 
Men  were  immediately  sent  in  search  of  the  thieves. 
Thinking  that  the  Mexican  would  attempt  to  cross 
the  river  above,  the  men  were  first  ordered  up,  but 
returned  at  night,  having  seen  no  tracks.  Instead  of 
going  up,  as  it  was  thought  they  had,  the  Mexican 
and  his  man  had  concealed  themselves  in  the  point 
below  the  fort,  it  being  his  plan  to  steal  the  ferryboat 
at  night  and  cross  over.  That  night  they  came  within 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  below  the  fort,  where  the 
Mexican  left  the  Dutchman  with  the  horses,  while  he 
went  after  the  ferryboat.  But  when  he  came  to  the 
fort,  it  seems  that  he  got  scared  at  the  barking  of  the 
dogs  and  could  find  no  opportunity  to  get  the  boat 
off.  When  day  was  about  breaking,  he  concluded  to 
abandon  that  project  and  returned  to  the  Dutchman, 
whom  he  found  sound  asleep  and  the  horses  gone. 
By  this  time  it  was  daylight,  and  fearing  to  be  dis- 
covered if  they  should  attempt  to  look  for  the  horses, 
they  thought  it  advisable  for  each  one  to  do  as  he 
thought  proper.  The  Dutchman  decided  to  give 
himself  up  to  the  mercy  of  the  authorities;  the  Mexi- 
can concluded  to  try  his  luck  at  large  for  a  while. 
When  the  door  of  the  fort  was  opened  one  of  the  men, 
who  happened  to  go  out  first,  saw  two  horses  near  the 
hills,  and  came  to  me  saying,  "  There  are  two  horses 


104  STORY  OF  THE  TWO  THIEVES. 

which  look  very  much  like  the  stolen  ones."  I  imme- 
diately sent  after  them,  and  to  be  sure  they  were  the 
very  two — Mr.  McKenzie's  favorite  horse  and  the 
next  best,  a  fine  iron-gray.  The  question  then  was, 
What  had  become  of  the  men?  Some  thought  one 
thing,  and  some  another,  but  none  guessed  right. 
Soon  after  breakfast  Mr.  Dutchman  appeared,  all  in 
a  tremble,  and  commenced  to  make  up  a  story  which 
had  neither  head  nor  tail.  Not  even  giving  him  time 
to  finish  it,  Mr.  McKenzie  requested  me  to  take  his 
gun  from  him,  and  put  him  in  irons  in  the  blacksmith 
shop.  This  was  done  immediately.  He  knew  not 
what  had  become  of  the  Mexican,  Four  or  five  days 
after  this  the  Mexican  came  to  deliver  himself  up,  say- 
ing, "  Mr.  McKenzie,  I  have  done  wrong;  here  I  am, 
do  with  me  what  you  choose;  but  please  don't  send 
me  to  the  States."  Without  replying  to  him  Mr. 
McKenzie  requested  me  to  have  him  ironed  and 
placed  in  confinement  with  the  Dutchman,  to  await 
trial.  Four  days  afterward  they  were  tried,  convicted, 
and  sentenced  to  receive  thirty-nine  lashes.  So  they 
were  tied  to  the  flagstaff  to  take  their  punishment. 
The  Dutchman  was  flogged  first.  When  stripped 
to  the  waist  his  skin  looked  fair  and  tender,  and  was 
actually  so;  for  at  every  blow  the  blood  flew  at  such 
a  rate  that  his  sentence  was  reduced  one-half.  But 
the  Mexican's  hide  was  brown  and  tough ;  he  hardlv 


THE  END  THEREOF.  10$ 

groaned,  and  received  the  full  number  of  lashes. 
Both  were  soon  taken  to  the  States  by  James 
Beckwith,®  the  great  mulatto  brave  among  the  Crows, 
whose  life  was  published  some  time  afterward.  Thus 
ended  this  scrape. 

•James  P.  Beckworth  or  Beckwourth.  Life  and  Adventures 
of,  written  from  his  own  dictation  by  T.  D.  Bonner  ;  orig.  ed., 
N.  Y.,  1856,  i2mo,  pp.  357;  new  ed.,  with  preface  and  notes  by- 
Charles  G.  Leland  ("Hans  Breitmann"),  London  and  N.  Y., 
1892,  8vo,  pp.  440,  plates.  It  is  a  good  story,  founded  on  fact, 
but  may  be  best  enjoyed  by  one  who  does  not  care  to  sift  fiction  ; 
still,  it  contains  a  great  deal  of  information  which  may  be  relied 
on  to  some  extent,  though  most  of  it  requires  to  be  corroborated 
or  confirmed  from  other  sources.  Beckwourth  appears  to  have 
been  repeatedly  at  Fort  Union,  and  on  p.  313,  2d  ed,,  speaks  of 
leaving  that  post  for  St.  Louis;  but  I  cannot  connect  this  incident 
with  Larpenteur's  statement,  owing  to  lack  of  dates. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

(1836-38.) 

FORT  union:  continued. 

Having  frequently  mentioned  Mr.  McKenzie  ^  as  a 
■member  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  I  will  give 
him  a  more  ample  introduction  to  the  reader.  Ken- 
neth McKenzie  was  born  in  Scotland  of  very  respecta- 
ble parents,  and  was  some  near  connection  of  the 
great  explorer,  Sir  Alexander  McKenzie.     He  en- 

'  The  only  Kenneth  McKenzie  who  became  generally  known  in 
the  N.  W.  Co.  was  the  one  who  was  drowned  in  Lake  Superior 
in  1816:  see  my  Henry  Journal,  1897,  p.  980.  At  that  time  the 
Kenneth  McKenzie  of  whom  Larpenteur  speaks,  and  who  be- 
came so  prominent  in  the  A.  F.  Co.  on  the  Missouri,  was  a  very 
young  man  who  had  not  made  any  mark — probably  a  clerk  N,  W, 
Co.,  who  first  appears  a  few  years  after  the  date  said.  Larpen- 
teur has  him  with  substantial  accuracy,  I  think.  He  did  trade  on 
the  Upper  Mississippi,  having  left  the  N.  W.  Co.,  after  1821,  and 
was  bought  out  by  the  A.  F.  Co.  about  1827.  His  precise  re- 
lationship to  the  other  Kenneth  McKenzie,  and  to  Sir  Alexander 
McKenzie,  I  have  not  ascertained ;  but  he  was  some  sort  of  a 
cousin  of  the  latter.  He  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1801,  and  died 
at  St.  Louis  in  1861.  His  son,  Owen  McKenzie,  appears  beyond, 
in  life  and  death.     His  unmarried  daughter  now  (1898)  resides 

206 


KENNETH  McKENZIE.  10/ 

gaged  to  the  Northwest  at  the  time  that  Company  was 
formed  to  oppose  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  It  was 
the  custom  to  engage  clerks  for  the  term  of  three 
years;  but  after  they  had  served  seven,  they  had  the 
privilege  of  entering  the  Company  as  partners.  Those 
young  men  had  to  be  of  good  standing  and  bear  good 
characters.  The  Northwest  could  not  compete  with 
the  strong  Hudson  Bay  Company  and  were  finally 
[in  1 821]  obliged  to  abandon  the  country.*  Mr. 
McKenzie,  who  had  taken  some  liking  to  the  trade 
and  thought  there  was  money  in  it,  struck  off  for  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  regions  where 

in  St.  Louis,  where  a  valuable  collection  of  his  papers  and  other 
effects  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

James  Stuart  says,  Cont.  Mont.  Hist.  Soc,  i,  1876,  p.  88  :  "In 
1822  he  went  to  New  York,  and  got  an  outfit  of  Indian  trade 
goods  on  credit,  and  established  a  trading  post  on  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  and  remained  in  that  part  of  the  country  till  1829  [?], 
when  he  came  to  the  Missouri  and  established  Ft.  Union.  He 
was  in  charge  of  all  the  Northwestern  fur  trade  until  1839,  when 
he  resigned — Alexander  Culbertson  taking  his  place — and  went 
to  St.  Louis,  where  he  went  into  the  wholesale  liquor  trade,  and 
lived  there  until  he  died  in  1856  or  1857  [not  till  1861].  He  was  a 
man  of  g^eat  courage,  energy,  good  judgment,  and  great  execu- 
tive ability.     His  wife  now  [1875]  resides  in  St.  Louis." 

"  Hardly  that — but  they  were  obliged  to  abandon  their  organ- 
ization and  be  merged  in  the  invincible  H,  B.  Co.  Most  of  the 
persons  concerned  remained  in  the  country  in  business  under  the 
new  regime.  What  happened  to  the  N.  W.  Co.  in  1821  was  pre- 
cisely the  issue  they  forced  upon  the  X.  Y.  Co.,  Nov.  5,  1804: 
particulars  in  Henry  Joum.,  1897,  p.  255. 


I08  ON  THE   UPPER  MISSOURI. 

the  American  Fur  Company  was  carrying  on  trade, 
in  small  furs  particularly,  to  a  great  extent.  Whether 
he  had  any  means  at  the  time  I  am  unable  to  say,  and 
also  in  what  capacity  he  entered  the  American  Fur 
Company;  but  he  probably  came  in  as  a  member,  and 
they  soon  placed  unbounded  confidence  in  him. 
Having  served  the  Northwest,  he  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  manner  in  which  trade  was  carried 
on  in  the  north,  and  also  with  the  tribes  in  that 
region.  He  soon  persuaded  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany to  extend  their  trade  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  for 
he  knew  that  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  did  not  and 
could  not  trade  buffalo  robes,  which  would  not  pay 
for  transportation  over  their  portages,  and  that  their 
trade  was  entirely  confined  to  fine  furs.  This  idea  in 
regard  to  extending  trade  was  correct,  but  the  dis- 
tance was  tremendous,  as  those  going  up  had  to  be 
towed  in  keel  boats  a  distance  of  2,000  miles.  But, 
as  I  have  remarked,  the  persuasion  of  Mr.  McKenzie, 
and  the  unbounded  confidence  they  had  in  him,  over- 
came all  difficulties.  About  the  year  1827  an  outfit 
was  made  up  and  started  for  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow- 
stone, Mr.  McKenzie  in  charge.  They  did  not  reach 
that  far  the  first  year,  but  established  a  wintering  post 
[1827-28]  at  the  mouth  of  White  river,  halfway 
between  Forts  Union  and  Berthold — say  150  miles 
below  the  Yellowstone.     After  the  post  was  finished 


FORT  UNION  FOUNDED.  IO9 

Mr.  McKenzie  started  for  the  States,  and  Mr.  Honore 
Picotte  remained  in  charge.  The  returns  were  found 
encouraging,  and  the  following  year  [1829]  he  went 
on  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  where  the 
chief  of  the  band  of  the  Rocks  ^  had  desired  him 
to  build,  and  which  was  a  beautiful  site,  abound- 
ing in  the  best  of  timber,  above,  below,  and  op- 
posite the  fort,  and  with  all  kinds  of  game.  Mr. 
McKenzie  made  this  his  residence  and  very  soon 
messengers  were  dispatched  north,  inviting  all  As- 
siniboines,  Crees,  and  Chippewas  to  the  Missouri. 
When  they  learned  that  Mr.  McKenzie  was  there 
it  was  not  long  before  large  numbers  of  these 
Indians  came  over,  together  with  many  half-breed 
families.  Next  year  [1830]  he  determined  to  extend 
the  trade,  both  up  the  Missouri  for  the  Blackfeet  and 
up  the  Yellowstone  for  the  Crows.  As  to  the  Crows 
there  was  no  difficulty,  but  the  Blackfeet,  who  were 
deadly  enemies  to  the  Americans,  he  could  not  well 
manage  against  their  will,  nor  did  he  think  it  advisa- 
ble to  start  up  an  outfit  before  learning  how  they  were 
disposed.     It  happened  at  the  time  *  that  there  was 

•One  of  the  divisions  of  Assiniboines:  see  my  Henry  Joum., 

1897,  p.  523. 

*  "  At  the  time  "  is  the  winter  of  1830-31,  as  we  learn  from  Cont. 
Mont.  Hist.  Soc.  i,  1876,  p.  84,  where  we  read  further:  "  Mc- 
Kenzie .  .  sent  a  party  of  four  men — Burger  [sz'c],  Dacoteau, 
Morceau,  and  one  other  man — in  search  of  the  Indians,  and  to  see 


no  MISSION  TO  THE  BLACKFEET. 

then  at  the  fort  an  old  trapper  named  Berger,  who  had 
been  in  his  young  days  in  the  employ  of  the  Hudson 

if  there  was  sufficient  inducements  to  establish  a  trading-post. 
The  party  started  up  the  Missouri  river  with  dog-sleds,  to  haul 
a  few  presents  for  the  Indians.  .  .  They  followed  the  Missouri 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Marias  river,  thence  up  the  Marias  to  the 
mouth  of  Badger  creek,  without  seeing  an  Indian,  finding  plenty 
of  game  of  all  kinds,  and  plenty  of  beaver  in  all  the  streams  run- 
ning into  the  Missouri.  Every  night  when  they  camped  they 
hoisted  the  American  flag,  so  that  if  they  were  seen  by  any  Indians 
during  the  night  they  would  know  it  was  a  white  man's  camp  ; 
and  it  was  very  fortunate  for  them  that  they  had  a  flag  to  use  in 
that  manner,  for  the  night  they  camped  at  the  mouth  of  Badger 
creek  they  were  discovered  by  a  war-party  of  Blackfeet,  who 
surrounded  them  during  the  night,  and  as  they  were  about  firing 
on  the  camp,  they  saw  the  flag  and  did  not  fire,  but  took  the 
party  prisoners.  A  part  of  the  Indians  wanted  to  kill  the  whites 
and  take  what  they  had,  but  through  the  exertions  and  influence 
of  a  chief  named  '  Good-woman,'  they  were  not  molested  in 
person  or  property,  but  went  in  safety  to  the  Blackfoot  camp  on 
Belly  river,  and  stayed  with  the  camp  until  spring.  During  the 
winter  they  explained  their  business,  and  prevailed  upon  about 
one  hundred  Blackfeet  to  go  with  them  to  Union  to  see  McKenzie. 
They  arrived  at  Union  about  the  ist  of  April,  1831,  and  McKenzie 
got  their  consent  to  build  a  trading-post  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Marias.  The  Indians  stayed  about  one  month,  then  started 
home  to  tell  the  news  to  their  people.  McKenzie  then  started 
[James]  Kipp,  with  75  men  and  an  outfit  of  Indian  goods,  to 
build  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Marias  river,  and  he  had  the  fort 
completed  before  the  winter  of  i83i[-32].  It  was  only  a  tem- 
porary arrangement  to  winter  in,  in  order  to  find  out  whether  it 
would  pay  to  establish  a  permanent  post.  Next  spring  [1832) 
Col.  [David  D.]  Mitchell  (afterward  colonel  in  Doniphan's  expe- 
dition to  Mexico)  built  some  cabins  on  Brule  bottom,  to  live  in 


MISSION  TO  THE   BLACKFEET.  Ill 

Bay  Company,  at  the  Fort  of  the  Prairie,'  when  Mr. 
John  Rovvand  was  in  charge;  and  this  having  been 
a  post  for  the  Blackfeet,  he  had  acquired  the  language 

till  a  good  fort  could  be  built.  The  houses  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Marias  were  burned  after  the  company  moved  to  Brule  bottom. 
Alex.  Culbertson  was  sent  by  McKenzie  to  relieve  Mitchell  and 
to  build  a  picket-stockade  fort  200  feet  square  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Missouri,  which  he  completed  during  the  summer  and  fall 
of  1832.  This  fort  was  occupied  for  eleven  years,  until  Ft.  Lewis 
[or  Louis]  was  built  by  Culbertson  on  the  south  side  of  the  Mis- 
souri river,  near  Pablois'  island,  in  the  summer  of  1844.  Fort 
Brule  [Brul6:  otherwise  called  Fort  Piegan  and  Fort  McKenzie,  or 
known  as  the  Blackfoot  post]  was  then  abandoned  and  burned. 
In  1846  Ft.  Lewis  was  abandoned,  and  Ft.  Benton  was  built  by 
Culbertson,  about  seven  miles  below  Ft.  Lewis,  and  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  river." 

I  have  cited  this  account  in  fixing  the  date  of  the  interesting 
story  Larpenteur  proceeds  to  relate,  which  is  thus  seen  to  be 
corroborated  in  all  essential  particulars — the  principal  variations 
in  fact  being  that  Mr.  James  Stuart  sends  only  four  men  on  the 
diplomatic  mission,  though  Larpenteur  implies  that  they  were- 
a  dozen;  and  more  than  doubles  the  number  of  Blackfeet  whom 
Larpenteur  brings  in.  McKenzie's  genius  was  perhaps  never 
better  displayed  than  in  this  great  stroke  of  business,  which  had 
far-reaching  commercial,  political,  military,  and  even  ecclesias- 
tical consequences,  in  the  development  of  the  whole  region  over 
which  his  operations  extended. 

'One  of  several  Forts  des  Prairies  on  the  N.  Saskatchewan, 
probably  that  at  Edmonton.  Much  about  this  Mr.  Rowand  will  be 
found  in  my  Henry  Journal,  p.  602  and  following.  I  have  lately 
corresponded  with  his  granddaughter.  Miss  Sophie  H.  Rowand, 
who  resides  at  No.  30  St.  Patrick  Street,  Toronto,  Ont.  One  or 
more  persons  named  Berger  are  noted,  ibid.,  p.  594. 


112  BLACKFEET  IN  SIGHT. 

and  could  speak  it  fluently.  So  Mr.  McKenzie  pro- 
posed to  send  Berger  to  the  Blackfeet,  to  try  to  bring 
down  a  party  with  whom  he  would  endeavor  to  make 
a  treaty  before  sending  up  an  outfit.  Berger  con- 
sented; but  as  this  undertaking  was  extremely  dan- 
gerous, Mr.  McKenzie  would  not  take  it  upon  him- 
self to  order  any  of  the  men  on  the  expedition.  Not 
less  than  12  men  would  do;  but  there  was  no  difficulty 
in  raising  the  required  number  of  volunteers,  who 
were  soon  ready  for  the  march.  The  forlorn  hope, 
as  they  were  called,  started  with  the  American  flag 
unfurled,  hardly  expecting  to  return.  But  Mr.  Mc- 
Kenzie was  in  good  hopes,  for  they  were  young  Cana- 
dians, who  knew  not  a  word  of  English,  and  the 
Blackfeet  were  accustomed  to  them,  as  they  were  also 
employed  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  He  antici- 
pated no  danger,  except  that  of  being  surprised  by  a 
war  party  while  encamped,  which  was  also  Berger's 
fear.  Having  searched  for  the  Blackfeet  for  about 
four  weeks,  the  men  were  at  last  so  fortunate  as  to  dis- 
cover a  large  camp,  without  being  discovered  them- 
selves; and  the  time  had  come  to  try  their  pluck. 
"  Blackfeet  in  sight — that  awful  tribe,  of  whom  we 
have  heard  so  many  terrible  stories — what  is  going  to 
be  our  fate?  "  was  the  talk.  Some  moves  were  made 
to  abandon  the  idea  of  entering  the  camp,  and  to  ske- 
daddle if  possible;  but  old  man  Berger  was  grit,  and 


"NOW  FOR  THE  BUTCHER  SHOP  ! "  II3 

succeeded  in  getting  his  men  along.  He  knew  the 
Indian  customs  as  well  as  their  language;  the  men  put 
great  confidence  in  him,  and  determined  to  follow, 
saying,  "  Now  for  the  butcher  shop!  "  Berger  took 
the  lead  with  the  flag  bearer  by  his  side,  and  his  little 
frightened  party  close  in  the  rear.  Soon  after  they 
had  got  on  their  march  they  were  discovered,  and  in 
less  time  after  that  a  large  party  of  mounted  Indians 
were  making  for  them  at  full  speed.  Berger,  having 
caused  his  little  party  to  stop,  advanced  with  the  flag 
bearer.  The  Indians,  perceiving  this  maneuver,  and 
not  knowing  what  to  make  of  it,  paused  for  a  while. 
Berger  advanced,  and  when  at  a  hearing  distance 
cried  out  his  name ;  at  which  they  rushed  up  to  shake 
hands,  and  the  party  which  had  kept  their  position 
were  ordered  to  come  up.  How  their  pulses  quick- 
ened and  their  hearts  thumped  is  not  hard  to  imagine, 
for  fear  had  not  entirely  left  them,  and  they  did  not 
know  what  fate  was  reserved  for  them  in  the  Blackfoot 
camp.  They  would  have  preferred  to  turn  back,  but 
it  was  too  cowardly  as  well  as  too  late,  and  on  they 
had  to  go.  On  entering  camp  there  was  great  yelling 
and  shouting  in  all  directions;  but  after  this  had  sub- 
sided they  were  lodged,  feasts  commenced,  and  all  was 
done  in  such  a  friendly  manner  that  the  boys  began 
to  feel  reassured.  When  Berger  had  made  his  inten- 
tions known,  a  party  of  40  Indians  consented  to 


114  DIPLOMACY   OF  BERGER. 

accompany  him  to  the  Yellowstone.  None  of  them 
had  ever  been  there,  and  some  showed  a  little  reluc- 
tance; at  which  Berger,  in  order  to  induce  them  to 
come,  represented  the  distance  to  be  somewhat 
shorter  than  it  really  was.  The  party  was  soon  ready, 
and  they  all  set  off.  Then  came  trouble  and  renewed 
fear  in  camp,  for  the  Indians  soon  commenced  to 
complain  of  the  distance,  thinking  a  trap  had  been 
laid  by  the  whites  to  destroy  them,  and  it  was  with 
great  difficulty  that  Berger  could  make  them  agree 
to  proceed.  Things  began  to  look  rather  dark,  but 
at  last  they  consented  to  go  on  a  few  days  more. 
One  night,  when  they  had  come  within  one  day's 
march  of  the  fort,  as  Berger  knew  very  well,  the  In- 
dians swore  they  would  go  no  further — that  he  had 
lied  to  them,  and  they  would  have  revenge.  Berger 
was  put  to  his  trumps;  but,  being  sure  of  reaching  the 
fort  next  day,  made  them  a  speech,  saying,  "  I  tell 
you  you  will  be  in  the  fort  to-morrow,  smoking  the 
pipe  of  peace  with  the  great  chief  who  sent  me. 
Here  I  am  with  my  party  and  horses;  if  I  don't  bring 
you  to  the  fort  to-morrow,  you  are  welcome  to  my 
scalp  and  all  the  horses."  This  struck  them  with  a 
great  deal  of  force,  and  they  consented  to  go  on  an- 
other day.  Next  morning  an  early  start  was  made  to 
give  ample  time  to  finish  the  journey,  and  about  three 
in  the  afternoon  they  arrived  on  a  ridge,  in  full  view  of 


BLACKFEET  BROUGHT  IN.  II5 

the  fort,  where  they  sat  down  to  smoke  and  vermilion 
themselves.  Soon  they  saw  the  large  flag  hoisted, 
heard  the  cannon  firing,  and  a  little  while  after  that 
the  forlorn  hope,  with  all  the  Blackfeet,  entered  Fort 
Union.  In  course  of  time  a  treaty  was  made,  and 
next  spring  [1831]  an  outfit  was  started  under  Mr. 
James  Kipp,®  with  instructions  to  build  at  the  mouth 
of  Maria's  river,  which  was  the  first  trading  post  es- 
tablished for  the  Blackfeet,  and  called  Fort  McKen- 
zie.^     Fort  Cass  was  built  next  spring  [1832];  and 

*  Long  a  well-known  person  in  the  fur  trade  of  the  Missouri  and 
Yellowstone.  In  1847  he  was  a  hardy  veteran,  upward  of  65  years 
old,  who  for  many  years  had  had  a  farm  near  Independence,  Mo., 
and  had  made  the  journey  to  the  Yellowstone  and  back  about 
20  times.  There  is  much  about  him  in  Maximilian,  Travels  of 
1833,  pub.  i?)i\'i, passim ;  in  Palliser,  1853,  p.  82,  etc.;  and  he  will 
frequently  come  up  again  in  Larpenteur's  narrative. 

'  Mr.  Kipp  may  have  so  called  the  one-season  house  he  built  in 
1831,  but  Larpenteur  means  by  Fort  McKenzie  the  definitive  post 
of  that  name  of  1832. 

By  far  the  best  account  of  Fort  McKenzie  I  have  seen,  gjiving 
history,  full  description,  etc.,  will  be  found  in  a  paper  penned  by 
Mr.  Alexander  Culbertson  for  Audubon,  at  Fort  Union,  Aug.  7, 
1843,  and  first  published  in  Aud.  and  his  Joums.,  by  Miss  M.  R. 
Audubon,  Dec,  1897,  ii,  pp.  188-195,  preceded  by  extracts  from 
Culbertson's  journal  at  Fort  McKenzie  of  June  13-26,  1834,  ibid., 
pp.  178-180.  Maximilian  also  describes  the  fort  in  his  Travels, 
ed.  1843,  chap,  xix,  pp.  242,  243.  His  accoimt  of  the  battle  there, 
which  he  witnessed  Aug.  28,  1833,  occupies  chap,  xx,  pp.  273- 
277,  and  his  folio  pi.  42  is  a  stirring  picture  of  the  scene — one  of 
the  very  finest  works  of  art  in  all  that  magnificent  series.  Like- 
wise, Mr.  Culbertson  furnished  Audubon  with  an  account  of  a 


Il6  THE  BLACKFOOT  POST. 

after  those  two  forts  were  established,  the  Upper  Mis- 
souri Department  was  formed,  of  which  Mr.  McKen- 
zie  was  the  agent.  Berger  received  $800  per  annum 
as  interpreter  for  the  Blackfeet. 

Having   done   my   best   to   post   the   reader   on 

fight  which  occurred  at  Fort  McKenzie  between  the  Assiniboines 
under  Gauch6  and  the  Piegans  who  were  at  the  fort,  Aug.  28, 
"  1834."  The  story  is  given  in  full  in  Aud.  and  his  Joums.,  ii, 
1897,  pp.  133-136.  There  was  fighting  enough,  I  wot,  in  that 
vicinity — hardly  a  coul6e  unreddened  with  blood  thereabouts; 
but  probably  not  two  battles  on  an  Aug.  28.  As  the  Maximilian 
date  is  certain,  I  suppose  the  Culbertson  date  of  "  1834  "  to  be  a 
mere  error  of  transcription,  and  the  two  narratives  to  be  of  the 
identical  engagement.  Maximilian  was  at  Fort  McKenzie  Aug. 
9-Sept.  4,  1833.     Compare  also  Larpenteur's  story  on  p.  92. 

The  A.  F.  Co .  had  no  permanent  post  among  the  Blackfeet, 
Piegans,  Bloods,  and  Prairie  Grosventres  (Atsinas)  till  1832,  as  it 
had  been  too  dangerous  to  attempt  to  trade  with  those  hostile 
and  bloodthirsty  Indians.  Fort  McKenzie  was  begun  that  year 
tinder  the  direction  of  David  D.  Mitchell,  then  a  clerk  A.  F.  Co., 
afterward  U.  S.  Indian  Agent;  "  the  fort  was  completed  by  me, 
Alexander  Culbertson,  then  a  clerk  of  the  Company,  now  [1843] 
one  of  the  partners.  During  the  first  year,  owing  to  the  exigencies 
of  the  occasion,  a  temporary  though  substantial  fort  was  erected. 
.  .  During  the  following  year  another  fort  was  commenced  and 
completed,  and  retained  its  former  name  of  Fort  McKenzie,  being 
named  after  Kenneth  McKenzie,  Esq.,  one  of  the  partners  of  the 
Company." 

This  establishment  was  often  known  as  the  Blackf oot  post,  Fort 
Bnil6,  and  Fort  Piegan  or  Piekann.  It  is  repeatedly  mentioned 
by  the  latter  name  in  Maximilian's  Travels.  Thus,  p.  239  of  the 
English  ed.  of  1843:  "Maria  River,  called,  by  the  Canadians, 
Marayon;  after  we  had  passed  it,  we  saw  .  .  the  ruins  of  the 


THE  BLACKFOOT  POST.  II7 

these  matters  [of  1827-33],  I  resume  my  per- 
sonal narrative.  Yet  a  few  words  more  in  ref- 
erence to  the  energy  of  Mr.  McKenzie,  who 
once  remarked  to  me,  in  a  conversation  on  In- 
first  fort  or  trading  post,  which  Mr.  Kipp,  clerk  of  the  American 
Fur  Company,  had  built  in  the  territory  of  the  Blackfeet.  This 
fort  was  abandoned  in  1832,  and  the  present  Fort  McKenzie  built 
in  its  stead."  Again,  pp.  242,  243:  "  Fort  McKenzie,  which,  at 
the  time  of  its  establishment,  in  1832,  was  called  by  Mr.  Mitchell, 
its  founder,  Fort  Piekann,  is  designed  for  carrying  on  the  fur 
trade  with  the  three  branches  of  the  Blackfoot  Indians,  and 
several  other  neighboring  nations,  as  the  Gros  Ventres  des 
Prairies,  the  Sassis  [Sarcees],  and  the  Kutanas,  or  Kutnehas 
[Kootenays].  .  .  The  American  Fur  Company  concluded,  in  the 
year  1831,  a  commercial  convention  with  those  tribes,  and  sent 
for  that  purpose  the  interpreter,  Berger,  a  Canadian.  .  .  As 
soon  as  it  was  agreed  to  by  both  parties,  Mr,  Kipp  was  sent  with 
a  keel  boat  laden  with  goods  to  Maria  River,  and  Fort  Piekann, 
now  [1833]  in  ruins,  was  founded.  As  the  situation  at  the  fort 
was  subsequently  found  to  be  unfavorable.  Major  Mitchell,  who 
succeeded  Mr.  Kipp,  transferred  the  trading  post  to  its  present 
situation." 

The  definitive  Fort  McKenzie  of  1833  was  situated  on  the  north 
or  left  bank  of  the  Missouri,  about  6  m.  above  the  mouth  of 
Maria's  river;  it  stood  15  feet  above  the  water  and  225  feet  from 
the  bank  of  the  river,  on  a  piece  of  prairie  a  mile  long,  rising  to 
hills  half  a  mile  in  the  rear;  opposite  the  fort  was  a  perpendicu- 
lar bank  of  black  clay,  150  feet  high;  the  river  was  here  100 
yards  wide.  It  was  a  palisaded  and  bastioned  structure,  200  feet 
square.  During  its  whole  existence  it  was  the  most  important 
link  in  the  chain  of  events  which  extended  in  space  from  the 
Yellowstone  to  above  Maria's  river,  and  in  time  from  1832  to  the 
founding  of  Fort  Benton  in  1S46. 


Il8  A  YELLOW-HAIRED  BOURBON. 

dian  trade,  that  his  intention  had  been  at  that 
time  to  extend  the  trade  into  the  Rocky  Mountains; 
and  that,  not  feeling  disposed  to  do  so  without  a 
charter,  he  made  application  to  the  government;  but 
that  ours  being  a  free  government,  no  charter  could 
be  allowed  him,  and  thus  the  project  was  abandoned. 
After  the  flogging  of  our  gentlemen  nothing  sj>e- 
cial  took  place  until  a  certain  free  trapper  named 
Augustin  Bourbonnais  came  down  the  Missouri  in  a 
canoe.  As  it  was  yet  early,  about  the  ist  of  Novem- 
ber [1836],  his  idea  was  to  keep  on  to  Fort  Clark  and 
winter  there.  But  as  he  found  many  of  his  friends  at 
Union,  he  changed  his  plans  and  made  up  his  mind  to 
spend  the  winter  at  this  place.  He  had  been  lucky  on 
his  hunt,  and  had  about  a  pack  of  beaver,  worth  some- 
thing like  $500,  which  made  him  feel  rich  and  quite 
able  to  pass  a  pleasant  winter.  Bourbonnais  was 
only  about  20  years  of  age,  a  very  handsome  fellow, 
and  one  thing  in  his  favor  was  his  long  yellow  hair, 
so  much  admired  by  the  female  sex  of  this  country. 
This  they  call  pah-ha-zee-zee,*  and  one  who  is  so 
adorned  is  sure  to  please  them.  A  few  days  before 
his  arrival  Mr.  McKenzie,  who  was  nearly  50  years 
old,  and  perhaps  thought  it  was  too  cold  to  sleep 

*  "  Riggs'  Diet,  has  :  Paha  =  hair  of  the  head,  the  scalp  ;  zt, 
yellow  ;  zt'zt,  redundant  of  zt,  yellow,  /.  e.,  very  yellow.  Hence 
Pahazizi,  very  yellow  hair." — W.  M. 


IN  FLAGRANTE  DELICTO.  II9 

alone  in  winter,  had  taken  to  himself  a  pretty  young 
bedfellow.  Mr.  Bourbonnais  had  not  been  long  in  the 
fort  before  he  went  shopping,  and  very  soon  was  seen 
strolling  about  the  fort  in  a  fine  suit  of  clothes,  as 
large  as  life,  with  his  long  pah-ha-zee-zee  hanging 
down  over  his  shoulders;  if  he  had  looked  well  in  his 
buckskins,  he  surely  looked  charming  then.  Cupid,  I 
suppose,  commenced  to  shoot  his  arrows  so  fast  that 
they  struck  Bourbonnais,  unfortunately  for  himself, 
as  they  also  had  Mr.  McKenzie;  and  as  such  arrows 
generally  wound  to  the  heart,  Mr.  McKenzie  deter- 
mined to  go  on  the  war  path.  Being  somewhat  ad- 
vanced in  age,  he  found  he  could  not  carry  on  the  war 
with  arrows;  so  he  armed  himself  with  a  good-sized 
cudgel  and  watched  his  opportunity.  It  happened 
one  evening  that  Mr.  Bourbonnais,  encouraged  by 
favorable  returns  of  affection,  went  so  far  as  to  enter 
the  apartments  reserved  for  Mr.  McKenzie.  The  lat- 
ter, hearing  some  noises  which  he  thought  he  ought 
not  to  have  heard,  rushed  in  upon  the  lovers  and  made 
such  a  display  of  his  sprig  of  a  shillelah  that  Mr.  Bour- 
bonnais incontinently  found  his  way  not  only  out  of 
the  house  but  also  out  of  the  fort,  with  Mr.  McKenzie 
after  him.  It  was  amusing  to  see  the  genteel  Mr. 
Bourbonnais,  in  his  fine  suit  of  broadcloth,  with  the 
tail  of  his  surtout  stretched  horizontally  to  its  full 
extent;  but,  unfortunately  for  the  poor  fellow,  he 


I20  BELEAGUERED   GARRISON. 

would  not  let  the  affair  end  in  that  way,  and  swore 
vengeance  on  Mr.  McKenzie.  Of  course,  having 
been  driven  out  of  the  fort  with  a  club,  he  did  not 
think  it  proper  or  consistent  with  his  dignity  to  at- 
tempt to  enter  again;  so  he  took  board  and  lodging 
in  an  Indian  tent,  many  of  which  were  pitched  near 
the  fort,  and  all  his  effects  were  delivered  to  him. 
Then  it  was  reported  that  Mr.  McKenzie  would  be 
killed;  for,  "  kill  him  I  must,"  Bourbonnais  had  said; 
but,  thinking  that  his  angry  passion  would  soon  sub- 
side, we  made  or  thought  little  of  the  threat.  Yet, 
sure  enough,  he  was  seen  next  morning  dressed  agairt. 
in  buckskin,  with  his  rifle  on  his  shoulder  and  pistol 
in  his  belt,  defying  Mr.  McKenzie  to  come  out  of  the 
fort  and  swearing  that  he  would  kill  him  if  he  had  to 
remain  on  the  watch  for  him  all  winter.  Still  think- 
ing that  such  performances  would  not  last  long,  Mr. 
McKenzie  preferred  to  remain  a  day  or  so  in  the  fort, 
rather  than  have  any  further  disturbance.  But  Bour- 
bonnais kept  up  his  guard  longer  than  Mr.  McKenzie 
felt  like  remaining  a  prisoner  in  his  besieged  fort; 
in  consequence  of  which  a  council  of  all  the  clerks  was 
called  with  the  view  of  raising  the  siege  either  by  per- 
suasion or  by  force,  and  so  it  was  agreed  that  Bour- 
bonnais' life  was  to  be  taken  in  case  he  could  not  be 
induced  to  desist.  As  a  measure  of  precaution  a  writ- 
ten instrument  was  immediately  prepared  and  pre- 


BRAZEAU   TO  THE   RESCUE.  121 

sented  to  the  men  of  the  fort,  to  sign  if  they  thought 
proper,  and  they  were  particularly  informed  that  the 
main  object  was  to  scare  Bourbonnais  away — as  in  re- 
ality it  was.  Next  morning  one  of  his  friends  was  sent 
to  him  on  the  part  of  Mr.  McKenzie,  to  notify  him  of 
what  had  taken  place,  and  to  advise  him  to  leave;  but 
that  availed  not,  for  he  continued  his  hostile  demon- 
strations. Having  given  him  ample  time  to  change 
his  mind,  and  seeing  that  he  did  not  budge,  a  mulatto 
named  John  Brazo  ® — a  man  of  strong  nerves  and  a 

»Dr.  Matthews  kindly  furnishes  the  following  note:  "There 
was  a  white  Brazeau  (John,  I  think)  and  a  colored  Brazeau  on 
the  Upper  Missouri.  It  was  the  latter  that  I  knew.  He  used  to 
say  he  was  the  first  '  white  man '  that  ever  came  into  the 
country.  I  think  he  came  as  a  servant  or  slave  to  the  former.  My 
John  Brazeau  was  a  full-blooded  .Ethiopian,  apparently,  of  small 
stature  and  intelligent,  though  not  handsome,  face.  He  must 
have  been  70  or  over  when  he  died.  He  enunciated  his  English 
well  and  had  a  good  command  of  it  for  an  uneducated  man. 
He  spoke  French  better  than  most  Canadians ;  also  Sioux  and 
other  Indian  languages.  He  was  hardy,  courageous,  and  on  the 
whole  a  creditable  specimen  of  his  race.  He  served  the  A.  F. 
Co.  and  its  successors  for  many  years.  About  1868,  the  company 
he  had  been  working  for  at  Fort  Berthold  sold  out  to  an  opposi- 
tion concern,  which  had  houses  outside  the  fort.  The  people  of 
the  latter  firm  moved  in  and  turned  all  the  old  hands  out,  includ- 
ing Brazeau,  who  was  now  too  old,  feeble,  and  rheumatic  to 
work.  He  was  literally  turned  out  to  die  ;  no  white  man  offered 
him  anything.  Then  the  Indians  took  pity  on  him  and  gave 
him  such  shelter  and  food  as  they  could  afford  ;  but  they  were, 
themselves,  very  poor  at  this  time.  Hearing  of  this  I  had  him 
conveyed  14  miles  to  Fort  Stevenson,  where  I  was  then  serving. 


122  THE  SIEGE  RAISED. 

brave  fellow,  who  had  on  several  occasions  been  em- 
ployed to  flog  men  at  the  flagstaff — was  sent  for  and 
asked  if  he  thought  he  had  nerve  enough  to  shoot 
Bourbonnais,  in  case  he  should  be  desired  to  do  so. 
To  which  he  replied,  "Yes,  sir — plenty!"  "Well, 
will  you  do  it?  "  "  Yes,  sir;  I  am  ready  at  any  time." 
John  was  then  ordered  to  take  his  rifle  into  one  of  the 
bastions,  and  shoot  when  he  got  a  chance.  John,  as 
good  as  his  word,  took  his  position.  I  recollect  that 
it  was  early  one  Sunday  morning,  a  little  before  sun- 
rise, when  Brazo  came  to  my  room,  saying,  "  Mr. 
Larpenteur,  I  have  shot  Bourbonnais."  As  none  of 
the  men  were  up,  I  went  to  apprise  Mr.  McKenzie  of 
it,  who  said,"  Has  Brazo  killed  him?  "  Bourbonnais 
had  fallen,  but  it  was  not  yet  known  whether  he  had 
been  killed  or  only  wounded,  and  I  was  told  to  take 
three  or  four  men  to  see  about  it.  Mr.  E.  T.  Denig, 
the  bookkeeper,  who  understood  some  little  surgery, 
went  with  us.  When  we  reached  the  spot  we  found 
Bourbonnais  only  wounded  and  that  not  mortally, 
the  ball  having  struck  him  above  the  right  breast,  and 
gone  out  through  the  right  shoulder.  He  was  then 
brought  into  the  men's  quarters,  where  his  wounds 

My  hospital  being  overcrowded,  I  furnished  a  shack  near  by  for 
his  accommodation,  and  sent  his  meals  to  him.  He  was  able  to 
sit  up  and  talk,  to  the  last.  One  morning,  when  the  attendant 
brought  him  his  breakfast,  Brazeau  was  found  kneeling  at  the 
side  of  his  bed,  dead." 


LOTHARIO  LAID   LOW.  1 2$ 

were  dressed  by  Mr.  Denig,  but  it  was  not  until  the 

following  spring  that  he  was  able  to  leave  the  fort. 

He  remarked  that  when  he  was  shot  he  was  on  his 

way  to  his  canoe,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone, 

with  the  intention  of  going  down  to  Fort  Clark.     He 

left  early  in  the  spring  and  what  became  of  him  I 

never  heard;  as  he  was  quite  pale  and  not  entirely 

cured  when  he  left,  it  was  thought  he  might  die. 

Now,  gentle  reader,  that  story  is  told,  and  next 

comes  one  concerning  myself,   which  has   nothing 

to    do    with    Cupid's    arrows,    but    something    to 

say   of   those   made    and    shot    by    Indians.     That 

same  spring,  on  the  ist  of  March   [1837],  ^^  ^^- 

press  arrived  with  the  information  that  an  individual 

named  Millieu  [Mileau?]  was  coming  with  a  small 

outfit  to  trade  with  a  band  of  Canoe  ^^  Assiniboines 

who   generally   remained    in   the    neighborhood    of 

White  river,  and  requesting  Mr.  McKenzie  to  send  a 

party  from  Fort  Union  to  oppose  him.     I  was  pitched 

upon  to  go,  and  next  day  started  down  with  a  small 

'*  For  this  tribe,  and  a  classification  and  census  of  the  Assini- 
boines, see  Henry's  Joum.,  1897,  pp.  522,  523,  and  my  note  there. 
He  knew  these  people  well,  having  been  in  business  with  them 
for  some  years,  and  his  division  of  them  into  eleven  bands  is  no 
doubt  more  reliable  than  that  of  Maximilian,  who  gives  only 
eight:  see  also  Fifteenth  Ann.  Rep.  Bur.  Ethnol.,  1897,  p.  161  of 
an  article  in  which  McGee  identifies  as  Assiniboines  the  "  Essa- 
napes "  of  the  mendacious  or  highly  imaginative  Baron  La 
Hontan.    They  are  the  Assinipoualaks  or  Guerriers  de  Pierre  of 


124  CANOE  ASSINIBOINES. 

outfit  on  three  one-mule  sleds.  These  Canoes  were 
considered  at  that  time  the  worst  band  of  Assini- 
boines — great  thieves  and  troublesome  to  the  traders; 
they  seldom  came  to  the  fort  and  left  it  without  com- 
mitting depredations,  and  it  had  happened  that  they 
stole  several  head  of  horses  the  previous  fall.  As 
liquor  was  the  surest  means  to  recover  stolen  horses, 
I  was  provided  with  the  article  for  that  purpose,  as 
well  as  for  another.  But  as  luck  would  have  it,  I  was 
prevented  from  reaching  the  Indian  camp  on  this 
trip,  for  at  our  first  camp,  which  was  at  the  Big 
Muddy  river,  24  miles  below  Union,  a  young  Assini- 
boine  appeared  with  a  letter  from  Mr.  McKenzie,  re- 
questing me  to  turn  back,  as  Millieu  had  been  killed 
by  the  Sioux  and  there  would  be  no  opposition;  be- 
sides which,  the  Indians  had  threatened  to  cut  the 
ears  ofif  my  mules,  and  would  be  likely  to  rob  me. 
Early  next  morning  we  were  on  our  way  back  to  Fort 
Union,  which  we  reached  in  good  time  that  day. 
Having  been  quietly  reinstated  in  my  former  func- 

the  Jesuit  Relations  of  1658,  and  are  supposed  to  have  separated 
from  the  Wazikute  gens  of  the  Yanktonais  Sioux  before  1650, 
when  they  became  the  Hohe  or  "  Rebels."  The  trouble  seems 
to  have  been  due  to  the  same  thing  that  caused  the  Trojan  War 
and  most  other  notable  events  in  the  history  of  the  human  race, 
beginning  with  eviction  from  an  original  abode  of  peace — a 
woman,  vartum  et  mutabile  semper,  as  Vergil  hath  it,  with  fine 
disregard  of  gender. 


I'lKRRK    ClARRKAU.       AUGIST,     1879. 

(Died  about  188 1.) 


PIERRE  GARREAU.  12$ 

tions,  I  thought  no  more  of  taking  a  tramp  until 
another  express  brought  the  information  that  the 
Opposition  had  come  up  river  and  were  already  with 
the  band  of  Canoes;  and  that  Mr.  D.  D.  Mitchell, 
the  person  in  charge  of  Fort  Clark,  had  sent  a  half- 
breed  named  Pierre  Garreau  "  after  them,  but  re- 
quested Mr.  McKenzie  in  the  meantime  to  send  some 

"  "  The  Pierre  Garreau  whom  I  knew,"  says  Dr.  Matthews  in 
a  letter  to  me,  "  was  the  son  or  reputed  son  of  a  Frenchman  or 
Franco-American.  This  first  Garreau  was,  I  think,  the  '  Mr. 
Garrow'  of  Lewis  and  Clark.  The  second  Garreau,  Pierre,  was 
the  Mis  or  Beesh  of  the  Hidatsa  Indians,  whom  in  your  ed.  of 
L.  and  C,  p.  245,  you  appear  to  have  confounded  with  his  father 
or  reputed  father.  Many  of  the  old  settlers  said  that  my  man 
was  a  full-blooded  Arickaree,  and  only  a  stepson  of  the  elder 
Garreau  ;  but  I  doubt  this.  When  you  see  his  portrait,  I  think 
you  will  recognize  Gallic  features  in  it,  though  he  was  as  dark 
as  any  Indian.  He  had  been  taken  to  St.  Louis  in  boyhood 
and  taught  the  trade  of  baker.  He  spoke  French  and  several 
Indian  languages  fairly  well,  but  Arickaree  best  (his  mother 
was  an  Arickaree).  Although  he  was  interpreter  for  many 
years  at  Fort  Berthold,  both  for  traders  and  the  military,  his 
command  of  English  was  not  good.  When  an  important  council 
was  on  hand  he  translated  the  Indian  speech  into  French,  and 
some  Frenchman,  who  spoke  better  English,  translated  it  to  the 
Americans.  I  once  attended  a  council  in  which  he  was  inter- 
preter, and  the  speech  of  the  visiting  Indians  passed  through 
four  languages  to  reach  us — Cheyenne,  Arickaree,  French,  Eng- 
lish. He  was  courteous  in  his  manners,  very  intelligent,  and 
was  highly  esteemed  by  all  his  associates,  white  and  Indian. 
When  I  knew  him  he  had  no  children  left ;  all  were  dead.  Boiler 
relates  how  three  of  his  sons  were  killed  by  the  Sioux.     Dr. 


126  SO-CALLED  TOBACCO  GARDEN. 

few  goods,  such  as  Garreau  did  not  have.  I  was 
called  on  again,  and  started  next  day  with  three  dog- 
sleds  and  some  liquor,  to  recover  the  stolen  horses  if 
possible.  The  third  day  I  arrived  in  camp,  which  was 
then  called  the  Tobacco  Garden  ";  it  was  lOO  miles  by 

W.  J.  Hoffman  once  showed  me  an  excellent  portrait  of  him 
which  I  think  belongs  to  the  U,  S.  Bureau  of  Ethnology." 

Boiler  in  his  Among  the  Indians,  1858-66,  pub.  1868,  has  much 
to  say  of  Pierre  Garreau  :  special  accounts  of  him  at  pp.  181, 182, 
and  of  the  killing  of  his  three  sons  at  one  fell  swoop  of  the  Sioux, 
pp.  245-248.  Boiler  considers  him  to  have  been  a  full-blooded 
Arikara,  whose  widowed  mother  married  the  elder  Garreau 
before  the  birth  of  her  son  ;  but  nothing  could  have  been  simpler 
than  for  the  actual  father  to  have  become  the  step-father  by 
marriage. 

'*  Tobacco  Garden  creek  was  discovered  by  Lewis  and  Clark, 
Apr.  17,  1805  ;  it  is  the  "  little  run  from  the  north  "  of  their 
itinerary  for  that  day,  ed.  1893,  p.  275.  It  is  an  insignificant 
tributary  of  the  Missouri  which  falls  into  the  left  side  of  this  river 
in  Williams  Co.,  N.  Dak.,  half-way  between  Big  Muddy  and 
White  Earth  river,  39  m.  (air  line)  below  Fort  Buford,  say  50  by 
the  trail,  and  perhaps  75  by  the  channel  of  the  Missouri.  It  will 
be  found  traced  on  any  fairly  good  map  of  that  region,  mostly 
without  any  lettering  by  name;  but  is  easily  identified  as  the 
little  stream  crossed  by  the  G.  N.  Ry.  next  W.  of  station  Whee- 
lock.  It  is  lettered  "Reed  Bottom  "on  Stevens'  map,  and  the 
same  name  appears  on  Twining's,  but  "  Tobacco  Garden  "  seems 
to  have  been  its  most  frequent,  though  erroneous,  designation.  I 
was  there  in  June,  1874,  with  the  U.  S.  Northern  Boundary  Sur- 
vey ;  in  the  Report  of  which,  1878,  p.  75,  Major  Twining  says  : 
"  Owing  to  the  slow  progress  made  by  the  boat,  I  was  obliged  to 
land  the  live  stock  at  the  Tobacco  Garden,  and  herd  it  from  that 
point  to  Fort  Buford,  where  it  arrived  on  the  15th  of  June,  a  few 


LARPENTEUR  EN  DEROUINE.  12/ 

water  from  Union.  Soon  after  my  arrival  I  sent  for 
the  chiefs,  and  told  them  that  the  chief  of  the  big  fort 
had  requested  me  to  assemble  them  to  assist  me  in  re- 
covering the  stolen  horses,  and  that  I  would  make 
them  a  present  of  a  little  liquor.  I  then  gave  them 
each  a  pint  of  whiskey.  Two  of  the  horses  were  soon 
brought  to  me,  for  which  I  gave  the  Indians  a  small 
keg  containing  one  gallon.  For  fear  that  those 
horses  might  be  retaken,  I  mounted  two  good  men 
upon  them,  and  ordered  them  to  put  for  the  fort. 

hours  after  the  boat."  That  this  name  is  a  mistranslation  of  the 
Indian  term  appears  from  the  following,  kindly  furnished  by 
Dr.  Matthews : 

' '  When  I  first  learned  the  Hidatsa  name  for  the  Tobacco 
Garden  creek  (meaning  Place  where  the  Reeds  Grow)  and 
found  that  other  Indian  names  had  the  same  meaning,  I  was  sur- 
prised, and  started  inquiries.  I  was  then  told  by  Charles  Paque- 
naud,  and  other  well-informed  men,  that  the  name  Tobacco 
Garden  came  thus  :  The  Sioux  and  Assiniboine  name  for  reed  is 
cedt  (cheddy)  and  the  name  for  tobacco  is  ca»dt  (chandee).  Some 
early  traveler  who  first  bestowed  the  English  name  was  con- 
fused by  the  resemblance  of  these  words  and  mistranslated  the 
Sioux.  Where  the  creek  enters  the  Missouri  bottoms  there  is 
(or  was  in  my  day  1865-72)  a  wide  marsh  where  common  reeds 
{Phragmttes  communis^  grew  abundantly.  I  have  had  a  mod- 
ern guide  point  out  to  me  '  the  very  spot  where  the  Mexican 
found  the  plug  of  tobacco  that  he  named  the  creek  from,'  and 
I  have  had  another  wiseacre  show  me  the  place  '  where  the  old 
Indian  planted  the  tobacco.'  Of  course,  Indians  cultivated  a 
native  tobacco  {Nicotiana  quadrivalvis)  in  those  days  ;  but  not 
in  separate  gardens,  apart  from  corn,  etc." 


128  TORTOISE   IN  LIQUOR. 

There  was  an  Indian  by  the  name  of  Pet-cah-shah," 
which  is  their  word  for  Tortoise,  who  was  known  as 
the  greatest  scamp  of  this  band;  he  was  the  son  of 
their  biggest  chief,  and  the  identical  genius  who  had 
stolen  the  horses.  The  liquor  trade  meanwhile  com- 
menced. Mr.  Tortoise  got  very  drunk,  and  rushed 
into  my  lodge,  saying,  "  You  are  the  meanest  white 
man  I  ever  saw — ^you  traded  a  lodge  from  me  too 
cheap  last  fall — you  would  not  give  me  the  knife  I 
asked  you  for."  He  went  on  enumerating  his  griev- 
ances and  exclaimed,  "  I  will  kill  you  to-night!  "  We 
knew  he  was  not  a  bit  too  good  to  do  it,  and  soon 
heard  him  yelling  in  an  awful  manner.  Suddenly  he 
rushed  into  the  lodge  with  his  bow  and  arrows,  and 
had  it  not  been  for  a  young  Indian — a  friend  of  mine 
— who  had  time  to  draw  his  knife  and  cut  the  bow 
string,  very  likely  I  should  not  now  be  writing. 
After  this  performance  he  came  up  to  me  hold- 
ing a  handful  of  arrows  with  which  he  punched 
me  in  the  breast,  saying,  "  You  dog  of  a  white 
man,  I  will  kill  you  yet!"  He  rushed  out  again 
and  was  soon  seen  with  a  short  Indian  gun  cocked, 
but  it  was  taken  out  of  his  hands  by  main  force 
and  the  priming  removed.  Then  he  went  to  the 
fire,  from  which  he  took  out  some  large  smol- 
dering chunks  of  wood  and  commenced  to  rub 
"  Or  Patkasha,  which  is  a  better  spelling  of  the  word. 


HOOTING   OWL   HEARD.  I29 

his  dirty  head  with  them,  making  the  live  coals  fly  in 
all  parts  of  the  lodge,  as  though  he  intended  to  set  it 
afire.  I  don't  believe  Old  Nick  himself  could  have 
cut  a  worse  figure  in  his  infernal  regions.  But  he  was 
plainly  getting  too  drunk  for  this  sort  of  thing  to  last; 
after  cutting  a  few  more  capers  he  rushed  out  again, 
and  this  was  the  last  we  saw  of  him  that  night. 

Soon  after  that  another  and  still  uglier-looking 
devil  of  an  Indian  made  his  appearance,  rushing  about 
in  the  same  manner.  This  was  Hooting  Owl,  upward 
of  six  feet  tall,  blind  in  one  eye,  naked  but  for  his 
breech-clout,  painted  in  a  most  hideous  manner,  and 
with  a  long  scalper  in  his  hand.  Standing  immedi- 
ately before  us,  he  commenced  to  talk  at  a  great  rate, 
and  was  apparently  very  angry;  but  what  he  meant 
by  his  remarks  I  could  not  understand,  as  I  was  not 
well  acquainted  with  the  language.  But  from  his 
postures  and  gestures  I  made  sure  we  were  gone  up 
this  time.  To  strengthen  me  in  this  belief  he  began 
to  tear  up  the  ground  with  his  long  knife,  like  a  furi- 
ous bull;  then,  without  saying  another  word,  rushed 
out  of  the  lodge.  I  asked  Garreau  what  this  meant, 
to  which  he  replied  that  the  Indian  was  all  right;  he 
had  only  been  saying  that  he  had  just  heard  how  we 
had  been  treated  by  the  Tortoise,  and  that  he  in- 
tended to  cut  up  the  first  Indian  who  should  trouble 
us  again,  just  as  he  had  cut  up  the  ground.    This  was 


130  BACK  FROM  CANOE  CAMP. 

good  news,  and  I  thought  that  if  1  were  to  adopt  a 
bird  as  an  emblem,  I  would  take  the  hooting  owl  in 
preference  to  the  eagle.  I  had  already  made  away 
with  the  liquor  on  the  sly,  as  the  Indians  would  not 
let  me  do  so  publicly;  the  noise  subsided  and 
finally  ceased,  and  thus  the  frolic  ended. 

Next  morning  some  chiefs  and  big  men  came  to  ex- 
press their  regret  that  I  had  been  so  badly  treated,  and 
everything  went  on  quite  smoothly;  but  Mr.  Pet-cah- 
shah  never  showed  himself  again.  My  orders  being 
not  to  remain  more  than  three  days,  and  not  knowing 
the  way  back  from  this  camp  to  the  Big  Muddy,  but 
wishing  to  make  the  fort  the  same  day — a  distance  of 
40  miles — I  hired  an  Indian  as  guide.  When  I  told 
him  that  I  intended  to  reach  the  fort  that  day  he  re- 
marked that  I  could  not  do  it:  that  we  would  have  to 
travel  at  night,  which  was  impossible,  on  account  of 
the  prickly  pears.  Seeing  him  determined  to  turn 
back  when  we  had  come  in  sight  of  Big  Muddy,  and 
knowing  the  road  myself  from  that  river  to  the  fort, 
I  agreed  to  let  him  go.  I  sat  down,  took  out  my 
pocket  book,  and  drew  him  an  order  for  what  he  was 
to  receive  for  his  trouble,  as  Garreau  could  neither 
read  nor  write.  Although  I  was  not  much  of  4 
draughtsman  he  understood  the  picture  very  well 
when  I  was  through  with  the  drawing,  which  indi- 
cated a  looking-glass,  a  number  of  hawk-bells,  a  knife. 


TO   FORT   UNION   AGAIN.  I3I 

a  pallet  of  vermilion,  and  a  piece  of  scarlet  cloth  in 
the  shape  of  a  breech-clout — though  this  last  I  had  to 
explain  to  him.  After  he  had  got  this  and  smoked 
his  pipe  we  separated,  and  about  eleven  o'clock  at 
night  I  entered  Fort  Union  with  my  feet  nearly  fro- 
zen. As  this  was  the  end  of  March,  and  it  had 
thawed  all  day,  the  river  bottom  was  all  water;  but 
at  sundown  the  wind  changed  to  the  northwest,  the 
water  commenced  to  freeze,  and  when  I  got  to  the 
fort  my  moccasins  were  so  hard  frozen  that  I  had  to 
let  them  thaw  before  I  could  get  them  ofT.  Had  there 
been  an  hour  longer  to  travel,  my  feet  would  surely 
have  been  frozen. 

Thus  ended  my  first  introduction  to  an  Indian  camp. 
Hoping  that  I  should  never  have  another  occasion, 
I  went  to  bed  and  slept  soundly;  but  it  will  be  seen  in 
the  sequel  that  I  was  frustrated  in  my  hopes,  if  my 
reader  will  have  the  patience  to  read  this  book 
through.  As  I  have  to  go  on  with  my  stories  in  ro- 
tation, it  will  be  some  time  before  I  again  take  him 
to  trade  whiskey  in  an  Indian  camp. 

After  my  return  from  the  Canoe  camp  nothing 
worthy  of  remark  took  place  until  the  arrival  of  the 
steamer,  late  in  June  [1837].^*     The  mirth  usual  on 

'*  It  is  highly  satisfactory  to  find  that  we  have  kept  Larpen- 
teur's  chronology  quite  correct  to  this  point.  It  is  true  that  1838 
was  the  great  smallpox  year,  as  given  by  De  Smet,  Catlin,  and 


132  SMALLPOX. 

such  occasions  was  not  of  long  duration,  for  imme- 
diately on  the  landing  of  the  boat  we  learned  that 
smallpox  was  on  board.  Mr.  J.  Halsey,  the  gentle- 
man who  was  to  take  charge  this  summer,  had  the 
disease,  of  which  several  of  the  hands  had  died;  but 
it  had  subsided,  and  this  was  the  only  case  on  board. 
Our  only  apprehensions  were  that  the  disease  might 
spread  among  the  Indians,  for  Mr.  Halsey  had  been 
vaccinated,  and  soon  recovered.  Prompt  measures 
were  adopted  to  prevent  an  epidemic.  As  we  had 
no  vaccine  matter  we  decided  to  inoculate  with  the 
smallpox  itself;  and  after  the  systems  of  those  who 
were  to  be  inoculated  had  been  prepared  according 

many  other  writers;  we  are  now  at  the  beginning  of  the  epi- 
demic in  1837.  The  Orig.  Journ.  has  a  long  special  article  on  the 
subject,  dated  Fort  Union,  Aug.  13,  1837,  and  opening  thus: 
"Remarkable  Events  of  the  Small  Pox  brought  to  this  Post  by 
the  Steam  Boat  Saint  Peter  on  the  24th  June  1837."  This  fixes 
the  date  precisely,  and  the  Autobiography  is  now  seen  to  have 
run  in  regfular  sequence  of  events  narrated — what  Larpenteur 
above  calls  "  in  rotation  " — from  1833  to  1837. 

It  appears  from  the  Orig.  Joum.  that  Mr.  Halsey 's  case  was 
followed  by  that  of  Mr.  Denig,  both  ending  favorably.  Mean- 
while occurred  a  fatal  case  of  a  lying-in  woman,  and  after  the 
alarm  had  become  general  17  persons  were  inoculated  on  July 
12.  Among  those  who  died  Larpenteur  names  Baptiste  Contois, 
a  half-breed,  and  adds:  "  During  his  illness  some  more  were 
expected  to  Dy  sure  Enough  on  the  4  Day  of  August  my  Squaw 
expired,  .  .  .  and  on  the  12  the  Poor  Contois  Was  Put  in  to  his 
earthley  Dwelling." 


RAVAGES  OF   THE   EPIDEMIC.  133 

to  Dr.  Thomas'  medical  book,  the  operation  was  per- 
formed upon  about  30  Indian  squaws  and  a  few 
white  men.  This  was  done  with  the  view  to  have  it 
all  over  and  everything  cleaned  up  before  any  Indians 
should  come  in,  on  their  fall  trade,  which  commenced 
early  in  September.  The  smallpox  matter  should 
have  been  taken  from  a  very  healthy  person ;  but,  un- 
fortunately, Mr.  Halsey  was  not  sound,  and  the  opera- 
tion proved  fatal  to  most  of  our  patients.  About  15 
days  afterward  there  was  such  a  stench  in  the  fort  that 
it  could  be  smelt  at  the  distance  of  300  yards.  It  was 
awful — the  scene  in  the  fort,  where  some  went  crazy, 
and  others  were  half  eaten  up  by  maggots  before  they 
died ;  yet,  singular  to  say,  not  a  single  bad  expression 
was  ever  uttered  by  a  sick  Indian.  Many  died,  and 
those  who  recovered  were  so  much  disfigured  that 
one  could  scarcely  recognize  them.  While  the  epi- 
demic was  at  its  height  a  party  of  about  40  Indians 
came  in,  not  exactly  on  a  trade,  but  more  on  a  beg- 
ging visit,  under  the  celebrated  old  chief  Co-han;  and 
the  word  was,  "  Hurry  up!  Open  the  door!  "  which 
had  been  locked  for  many  days,  to  keep  the  crazy 
folks  in.  Nothing  else  would  do — we  must  open  the 
door;  but  on  showing  him  a  little  boy  who  had  not 
recovered,  and  whose  face  was  still  one  solid  scab,  by 
holding  him  above  the  pickets,  the  Indians  finally  con- 
cluded  to   leave.     Not   long  afterward   we   learned 


134  CHEERFUL   UNDERTAKER. 

that  more  than  one-half  of  the  party  had  died — some 
said  all  of  them.  In  the  course  of  time  the  fort  be- 
came clear  of  the  smallpox,  but  the  danger  of  infec- 
tion continued.  Fort  William  ^''  was  still  standing, 
and  the  remaining  houses,  which  were  no  longer  in- 
habited, were  used  as  hospitals  for  Indians,  with  no 
other  attendants  than  some  old  squaws.  It  became 
the  duty  of  John  Brazo  to  take  out  the  dead  and  dump 
them  into  the  bushes,  and  some  mornings,  on  asking 
him  "  How  many?  "  he  would  say,  ''  Only  three,  sir; 
but,  according  to  appearances  in  the  hospital,  I  think 
I  shall  have  a  full  load  to-morrow  or  next  day."  This 
seemed  to  be  fun  for  Brazo,  but  was  not  for  others, 
particularly  myself,  as  I  happened  to  be  the  trader, 
who  was  liable  to  be  shot  at  any  time;  but,  singular  to 
say,  not  even  a  threat  was  made,  though  the  tribe  was 
reduced  more  than  one-half  by  next  spring  [1838]. 
Trade  continued  very  nearly  up  to  the  average;  on 
being  asked  how  it  happened  that  there  were  so  many 
robes  brought  in,  the  Indians  would  say  laughingly 
that  they  expected  to  die  soon,  and  wanted  to  have 

'*  The  original  one  of  that  name  having  been  eradicated  and 
transplanted  alongside  Union,  as  we  have  seen,  p.  72;  "the  re- 
maining houses  "  being  those  not  burned  during  the  Deschamps 
massacre  of  June  28-29,  1836,  p.  100.  Larpenteur  keeps  the  name 
in  double  employ,  sometimes  for  the  original  site  of  Fort  William , 
and  sometimes  for  the  buildings  which  were  removed  from  that 
place  to  another  position. 


ONLY  A  FEW   SHOTS  FIRED.  1 35 

a  frolic  till  the  end  came.  The  winter  [of  1837-38] 
was  spent  in  great  suspense  and  fear,  but,  fortunately, 
nothing  serious  occurred  except  some  few  shots  fired 
at  me  through  the  wicket  during  the  night  liquor 
trade;  and  as  this  had  frequently  happened  before,  it 
was  not  attributed  to  revenge  for  the  smallpox. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
(1838.) 

ROUND   TRIP   TO   THE    STATES. 

It  happened  that  this  was  an  open  winter;  the  ice 
broke  up  early  in  March,  and  the  river  was  clear  on 
the  226.  of  that  month,  fit  which  date  I  left  for  Balti- 
more in  a  small  canoe,  with  Mr.  Robert  Christy  of  St. 
Louis.  He  had  come  up  in  the  fall  to  winter  at  Fort 
Union  for  his  health,  and  becoming  anxious  to 
return,  had  made  up  his  mind  to  leave,  in  spite  of  all 
the  dangers  represented  to  him.  On  my  part,  I  had 
not  seen  my  parents  for  ten  years,  and  as  this  early 
start  would  give  me  ample  time  to  visit  them,  until 
our  party  should  be  ready  to  return  in  the  fall,  noth- 
ing could  persuade  me  out  of  the  notion.  Mr.  D.  D. 
Mitchell,  a  member  of  the  Company,  and  very  much 
of  a  gentleman,  got  me  to  engage  for  another  year, 
previous  to  my  departure,  allowing  my  wages  to  run 
on  during  my  absence;  so  this  trip  was  considered  as 
a  furlough. 

1^6 


DOWN   THE    MISSOURI.  1 37 

Matters  being  thus  well  fixed  Mr.  Christy  and  I  left, 
with  two  men  to  row  our  canoe. 

The  day  was  calm  and  beautiful ;  and  we  made  good 
speed.  I  was  young,  and  full  of  mirth  at  the  idea  of 
returning  to  my  parents,  whom  I  intended  to  take  by 
surprise,  and  many  other  fine  plans  I  had  formed 
made  me  so  happy  that  I  forgot  the  danger  of  Indi- 
ans. Suddenly  a  party  of  them,  who  had  concealed 
themselves  along  the  river  banks,  rose  up  with  their 
bows  and  arrows,  ready  to  shoot.  We  were  not  more 
than  20  yards  from  them,  and  their  work  of  destruc- 
tion would  have  been  quickly  done  had  it  not  been  for 
one  among  them  whom  we  saw  running  to  and  fro 
with  his  bow  in  his  hand,  striking  right  and  left.  He 
finally  succeeded  in  preventing  the  threatened  attack; 
and,  as  one  can  imagine,  the  progress  of  our  little  craft 
was  speedily  increased.  We  were  told,  on  our  return, 
by  Mr.  Chardon,^  a  member  of  the  Company  in  charge 
of  Fort  Clark,  that  we  had  no  idea  how  near  we  came 
to  losing  our  lives  on  that  occasion.     Those  Indians 

'  Francois  A.  Chardon  was  a  well-known  man  in  the  business, 
whose  name  frequently  occurs  in  books  of  trade  and  travel  on 
the  Missouri.  He  was  in  charge  of  Fort  McKenzie  in  1842,  when, 
with  Alexander  Harvey  and  others,  he  became  infamous  for  the 
Blackfoot  massacre  described  beyond,  and  next  year  built  Fort 
Chardon  above  the  mouth  of  the  Judith.  He  was  in  charge  of 
Fort  Berthold  Apr.  i,  1848,  when  Palliser  reached  that  post,  p. 
197,  but  was  already  very  ill,  and  his  death  occurred  that  spring 
or  summer,  as  noted  by  Palliser,  p.  263. 


138  FIRST  FRIGHT. 

were  a  party  of  80  Rees  [Arikaras],  who  had  gone  to 
war  on  the  Assiniboines;  and  had  it  not  been  for  their 
partisan's  great  influence  over  them  we  surely  would 
have  all  been  killed.  The  Rees  had  had  the  small- 
pox severely,  and  were  therefore  badly  disposed  to- 
ward the  whites.  This  was  fright  No.  i,  after  which 
I  remember  well  the  first  words  spoken  by  Mr. 
Christy:  "  Larpenteur,  I  think  we  had  better  stayed  at 
Union."  But  it  was  already  too  late  to  repent;  we 
were  under  way  and  could  not  turn  back. 

At  ten  o'clock  of  the  second  day  after  this,  when 
we  were  near  Heart  ^  river,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Missouri,  we  discovered  six  Indians,  who  had  gone 
hunting  while  the  ice  was  still  strong;  but  it  had 
broken  up  before  their  return,  and  now  they  had  no 
means  of  crossing  the  river.  Thinking  this  a  good 
opportunity  to  save  themselves  the  trouble  of  mak- 
ing their  own  boat,  they  made  signs  to  us  to  come 
for  them.  These  Indians  belonged  to  the  band  of 
Canoe  Assiniboines,  who  had  had  the  smallpox 
badly,  and  whom  I  had  known  to  accept  pay  for  being 
ferried  over  the  river,  instead  of  paying  us  for  the 
privilege;  so  of  course  I  declined  the  job.     As  soon  as 

'  Some  slip  here.  Heart  river  is  nearly  opposite  Bismarck,  N. 
Dak.,  which  is  much  below  the  Mandans,  where  was  situated 
Fort  Clark;  and  Larpenteur  is  still  far  above  the  latter.  Perhaps 
he  meant  to  say  Little  Missouri  river. 


SECOND   FRIGHT.  1 39 

they  saw  our  craft  steered  away  from  them,  they 
threw  off  their  robes,  and,  with  nothing  on  but  their 
leggings  and  breech-clouts,  ran  to  head  us  off.  This 
they  were  near  doing,  as  we  had  to  go  close  to  the 
shore  to  avoid  the  waves  caused  by  the  strong  cur- 
rent washing  against  sand  bars.  As  we  approached 
they  seated  themselves,  steadied  their  guns  with  the 
ramrods  to  take  good  aim,  and  let  fly  at  us.  But  by 
this  time  we  had  got  a  little  ahead  of  them,  rowing  all 
the  time  with  all  our  might,  though  we  could  see  the 
flashes  from  the  muzzles  of  their  guns  and  hear  the 
bullets  strike  the  water.  Mr.  Christy,  who  was  steer- 
ing, dodged  like  a  duck  passing  under  a  bridge,  to 
avoid  the  l^alls  which  whistled  about  his  ears.  We 
soon  got  out  of  their  reach,  but  this  danger  was  not 
the  worst  that  appeared.  The  Indian  camp  was  only 
a  little  way  off,  and,  having  heard  the  firing,  they  were 
all  on  the  alert,  thinking  we  were  enemies.  They 
soon  found  out  the  cause  of  the  firing,  and  ran  down 
to  the  next  bend  with  the  intention  of  giving  us  an- 
other volley.  They  fired  at  us  again,  but,  fortunately 
for  us,  the  river  was  wide,  the  current  free  from  waves, 
and  we  could  keep  our  distance  from  the  shore.  Bul- 
lets fell  on  the  water  like  hail,  some  even  beyond  us, 
and  three  of  them  lodged  in  our  canoe.  These  we 
afterward  extracted  with  our  knives.  At  length,  find- 
ing ourselves  out  of  danger,  and  also  out  of  breath 


I40  THIRD   FRIGHT. 

after  having  paddled  with  all  our  might  through  two 
attacks,  those  who  had  pipes  began  to  smoke,  and 
jocose  remarks  were  made  in  regard  to  our  scare. 
Some  said,  "  This  is  fright  No.  2;  I  wonder  what  No. 
3  is  going  to  be?  It  cannot  fail  to  happen,  as  we  have 
already  had  two  in  so  short  a  distance,  and  the  third 
time  we  must  surely  go  up!  "  I  began  to  feel  like 
agreeing  with  Christy,  that  we  had  better  have  re- 
mained at  Union. 

After  the  pipes  were  emptied,  the  paddles  were 
again  plied,  and  our  little  wounded  craft  slid  down 
stream  gently.  We  kept  on  in  a  pleasant  manner  un- 
til next  day,  at  about  eleven  o'clock,  when  we  dis- 
covered a  large  number  of  Indians  on  the  south  side 
of  the  river,  running  back  and  forth  and  gathering  on 
a  small  hill  quite  near  the  bank.  Their  maneuvers 
appearing  hostile  to  us,  we  knew  not  what  to  do,  and 
began  to  fear  we  were  surely  gone  up  this  time.  It 
was  thought  best  to  land  on  the  opposite  shore,  to  de- 
cide upon  what  course  to  adopt,  and  it  was  left  op- 
tional with  each  one  to  take  it  by  land  or  water.  Not 
feeling  like  footing  it,  I  went  in  for  the  boat ;  and  after 
a  little  further  parley,  seeing  me  determined  to  do  so, 
they  all  agreed  to  follow  my  example.  So  I  placed  a 
good  supply  of  tobacco  on  the  bow  of  the  canoe,  in 
full  sight,  to  produce  a  good  effect,  if  possible,  and  on 
we   started.     When   they  saw   us   coming  they   in- 


CHARBONNEAU  AND  SAKAGAWIA.       I4I 

creased  in  number  and  our  fears  rose  in  proportion; 
but  keep  on  we  must.  When  our  fears  were  at  the 
highest  pitch  we  perceived  an  individual  with  pants 
and  a  red  flannel  shirt  on,  looking  very  much  like  a 
white  man.  To  our  surprise  and  joy,  we  found  that  it 
was  old  Mr.  Charbonneau,"^  who  had  been  40  years 
among  the  Missouri  Indians.  He  used  to  say  that 
when  he  first  came  on  the  river  it  was  so  small  that 
he  could  straddle  it.     Imagine  our  joy  to  find  our- 

^Toussaint  Charbonneau,  Lewis  and  Clark's  interpreter  of 
1805-6,  who  was  engaged  at  the  Mandans  to  accompany  the  expedi- 
tion to  the  Pacific,  and  whose  wife,  Sacajawea  the  Bird  Woman, 
rendered  important  service  as  guide  and  in  other  ways:  See  L. 
and  C,  ed.  1893,  pp.  189,  224,  244,  257,  etc.  Larpenteur's  "40 
years  "  would  bring  Charbonneau  to  the  Missouri  in  1798,  which  is 
no  doubt  about  right;  he  is  not  heard  of  much  after  1838,  but  I 
have  found  no  record  of  his  death.  History  is  silent  regarding 
the  death  of  the  lowly  heroine  Sacajawea,  who  should  never  be 
forgotten  as  the  guide  of  the  L.  and  C.  expedition  at  some  of  its 
most  critical  junctures,  as  when  she  pointed  the  way  out  of  Ross' 
Hole  to  Captain  Clark,  July  6,  1806,  over  the  Continental  Divide 
by  Clark's  (or  Gibbon's)  Pass,  ed.  1893,  p.  1122;  and  again,  July 
14,  when  she  is  praised  by  him  for  piloting  him  over  Bozeman 
Pass  to  the  Yellowstone,  p.  1132.  Dr.  Matthews  explains  to  me 
that  there  should  certainly  be  no  sound  of  j  in  her  name.  The 
word  is  composed  of  Tsakdka  or  Sakdga  =  bird  -j-  w/a  =  woman 
— the  ^  very  hard,  and  the  whole  accented  Saka'ga-wi'a.  This 
should  be  remembered  when  the  time  comes,  as  I  hope  it  may, 
for  a  monument  to  stand  on  the  summit  of  one  of  the  passes  here 
said,  in  commemoration  of  signal  services  rendered  to  the  United 
States  Government  by  a  slave  Indian  woman  who  was  sold  by 
her  captors  to  Toussaint  Charbonneau. 


142  FORT   CLARK. 

selves  befriended  instead  of  butchered,  as  we  had 
thought  we  were  surely  going  to  be.  The  tobacco 
was  presented  to  such  Indians  as  the  old  gentleman 
advised,  and  we  resumed  our  paddles. 

Charbonneau  told  us  that  we  were  then  something 
like  70  miles  from  Fort  Clark,*  but  thought  that  we 

*  See  Lewis  and  Clark,  ed.  of  1893,  p.  179.  This  was  the  post 
at  the  Mandans,  for  the  trade  of  these  Indians  and  the  Grosven- 
tres,  and  long  one  of  the  most  noted  establishments  on  the  river. 
The  most  satisfactory  account  I  have  seen  may  be  read  in  Maxi- 
milian's Travels  of  1833.  The  book  is  rare  in  this  country;  I  have 
seen  but  two  perfect  copies,  both  of  these  of  the  English  ed.  of 
1843,  4to  text,  with  folio  atlas  of  magnificent  plates.  One  of 
these  copies  formerly  belonged  to  John  James  Audubon,  bears 
his  autograph,  and  is  now  owned  by  his  granddaughter.  Miss  M. 
R.  Audubon,  at  Salem,  N.  Y.  The  prince  has  much  to  say  of 
Fort  Clark,  as  on  pp.  318,  319,  etc.,  323,  etc.,  and  gives  a  diagjram 
of  the  location  on  p.  394.  It  appears  that  James  Kipp,  a  Cana- 
dian of  German  descent,  came  to  the  place  as  agent  of  the  Colum- 
bia F.  Co.  in  1822,  when  there  was  no  post.  Major  Pilcher,  who 
came  up  the  Missouri  with  Maximilian  in  1833,  to  take  charge  of 
Cabann6's  Omaha  post,  and  was  in  1822  a  proprietor  of  the  Mis- 
souri F.  Co.,  directed  a  post  to  be  built  a  little  above  the  Min- 
nitaree  villages,  on  the  S.  side  of  the  river.  This  was  abandoned 
in  1823,  when  the  Mo.  F.  Co.  was  dissolved.  In  May,  1822, 
Mr.  Kipp  began  a  fort  on  the  prairie  which  lay  between  the 
future  Fort  Clark  and  "  the  forest  in  which  the  inhabitants  of 
Mih-Tutta-Hang-Cush  live  in  the  winter."  This  structure  was 
completed  in  Nov.,  1822.  In  Nov.,  1825,  Mr.  Kipp  went  to  White 
Earth  river,  where  he  built  a  fort  a  little  below  its  mouth,  and 
wintered  1825-26,  trading  with  the  Assiniboines.  In  the  winter 
of  1830-31  Mr.  Kipp  caused  wood  to  be  prepared  for  a  new  fort, 
and  the  palisades  were  erected  in  the  spring  of  1831.     Mr.  D.  D. 


FORT    CLARK.  I 43 

would  be  detained  by  the  ice,  as  frequently  happened, 
this  being  about  the  most  northern  point  on  the  Mis- 
souri. Gladdened  again,  fright  No.  3  being  over, 
and  fairly  under  way,  we  traveled  well  the  balance  of 
that  day.  The  next  day  we  found  but  little  current, 
and  had  to  paddle  hard  to  make  much  headway.  We 
went  on  thus  until  about  three  in  the  afternoon,  when 
we  found  the  river  nearly  blocked  by  large  dykes, 
which  had  formed  across  it  and  caused  the  slowness 
of  the  current:  but  we  forced  our  way  through  a  nar- 
row channel,  and  kept  on  by  hard  paddling.  By  the 
time  we  were  about   10  miles  from  Fort  Clark  the 

Mitchell  then  undertook  the  direction  of  this  new  post,  which 
he  completed  to  some  extent  and  named  Fort  Clark.  In  July, 
1831,  Mr.  Kipp  was  sent  to  Maria's  river,  where  he  built  the  first 
Fort  Piegan  and  wintered  1831-32,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
Mr.  Mitchell,  who  began  to  build  the  later  Fort  Piegan  or 
McKenzie  (completed  by  Mr.  Culbertson).  Thereupon  Mr.  Kipp 
returned  to  Fort  Clark,  where  he  wintered  1832-33  as  clerk  under 
Mr.  Lamont,  and  then  took  charge  in  1833.  Fort  Clark  was  about 
f  m.  below  the  old  Fort  Mandan  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river,  300  paces  from  the  Mandan  village  above 
said,  80-go  paces  from  the  S.  bank  of  the  Missouri,  200  paces  above 
a  streamlet  which  receives  a  branch  at  200  paces  from  the  fort, 
after  issuing  from  the  hills  back  of  the  level  piece  of  prairie  on 
which  the  fort  was  built.  About  a  league  below  Fort  Clark  was 
a  wooded  bend  of  the  Missouri,  where  was  the  winter  location  of 
60-70  huts  to  which  Maximilian  refers,  belonging  to  the  Mandans 
of  the  first  or  lowest  village,  called  Matootonha  or  Matootonka 
by  Lewis  and  Clark,  ed.  1893,  p.  182 ;  but  I  understand  that 
the  above  is  a  better  spelling  of  the  name. 


144  FRANCOIS  A.   CHARDON. 

dyke  broke  loose  and  the  ice  came  down  upon  us 
with  such  a  rush,  and  tossing  our  canoe  like  an  old 
log  at  such  a  rate,  that  we  thought  ourselves  in 
greater  danger  of  our  lives  than  we  had  been  from  the 
Indians;  but  at  last  it  brought  our  canoe  of  its  accord 
to  shore  about  a  mile  above  the  fort,  where  we  were 
obliged  to  remain  two  days  till  the  ice  subsided.  Mr. 
F.  A.  Chardon,  who  was  then  in  charge,  and  a  very 
singular  kind  of  a  man,  entertained  us  in  the  best 
manner.  Mr.  Christy  had  a  two-gallon  keg  of  good 
whiskey,  of  which  Mr.  Chardon  was  so  fond  that  he 
helped  himself  about  every  fifteen  minutes,  saying 
he  had  "  a  great  many  worms  in  his  throat  " — to  the 
sorrow  of  Mr.  Christy,  who  found  his  keg  so  nearly 
empty  that  he  concluded  to  make  Mr.  Chardon  a 
present  of  what  was  left.  We  remained  there  two 
days;  on  the  third  we  took  leave  of  Mr.  Chardon 
who,  not  knowing  he  was  to  fall  heir  to  the  bal- 
ance of  the  whiskey,  and  not  having  as  yet  destroyed 
all  the  worms  in  his  throat,  would  have  been  glad  for 
us  to  remain  another  day,  and  insisted  very  strongly 
that  we  should  do  so.  I  cannot  say  whether  it  was 
because  the  whiskey  had  been  put  on  board  before  Mr. 
Christy  made  up  his  mind  about  it,  that  Mr.  Chardon 
accompanied  us  to  the  boat,  or  whether  he  did  so 
through  politeness;  but  he  felt  very  happy  at  the  pres- 
entation, and  hastened  back  to  the  fort  in  double- 
quick  time. 


VERMILION   POST — MR.   DICKSON.  I45 

All  right  and  off  again;  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that, 
with  the  exception  of  high  winds,  which  at  times  kept 
us,  for  three  days  together,  camped  in  the  willows, 
nothing  took  place  worth  mentioning  till  we  reached 
the  Vermilion  post.'  Mr.  Dickson,  who  shortly 
afterward  committed  suicide,  was  in  charge,  and 
showed  us  great  kindness  during  the  night  we  stayed 
with  him.  After  relating  to  him  our  narrow  escapes, 
he  remarked  that  we  were  now  out  of  danger,  being 
among  a  different  kind  of  Indians.  This  informa- 
tion sounded  pleasant. 

After  a  good  breakfast  next  morning  we  left  the 
kind  Mr.  Dickson,  who,  it  appeared,  did  not  quite 
know  his  Indians;  for  we  had  not  made  more  than  20 
miles  when  a  volley  of  rifle-shots  was  fired  at  us  by  a 
deer-hunting  party  of  Omahas.  Fortunately  we  hap- 
pened to  be  in  a  wide  part  of  the  river.  The  attack 
was  so  sudden  that  we  had  no  time  for  fright  before  it 
was  over;  but,  after  this,  we  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  we  could  not  consider  ourselves  safe  until  we 
reached  the  States.  In  constant  dread  of  Indians,  we 
kept  paddling  on  our  way,  trusting  to  good  luck  to 


"  Fort  Vermilion,  so  called  from  the  well-known  river  of  that 
name  at  whose  mouth  is  now  Vermilion,  seat  of  Clay  Co.,  S.  Dak. 
But  "  the  Vermilion  post  "  was  not  exactly  at  this  point:  see  a 
note  beyond,  in  which  I  discuss  the  situation,  at  the  date  when 
Larpenteur  takes  charge  of  an  establishment  by  this  name. 


146  ABOARD   THE  ANTELOPE. 

get  out  of  the  Indian  country;  it  was  a  long  way  to 
travel,  as  there  was  no  settlement  at  that  time  on  the 
Missouri  above  Independence,  Mo.  Our  provisions 
were  getting  low,  and  altogether  we  were  not  in  very 
good  humor.  On  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Platte 
we  perceived  a  steamer;  and  as  but  one  steamer  a 
year  came  that  far  up,  we  made  sure  it  was  the  Com- 
pany's boat.  Our  hearts  were  glad,  expecting  to  hear 
all  the  news  and  procure  a  supply  of  eatables.  We 
were  soon  on  board  the  Antelope " — that  being  her 
name.  Mr.  McKenzie,  who  was  on  his  way  to  Fort 
Union,  was  much  surprised  to  see  me.  Said  he,  *'  My 
God!  Larpenteur,  what's  the  matter?  Why  have  you 
come  down  so  early  in  the  season?  "  After  learning 
the  circumstances  and  being  assured  that  all  was  right 
above,  he  became  reconciled,  and  told  me  that  he 
had  been  to  my  father's,  in  Baltimore,  and  had  left 
them  all  well;  "but  go  on,"  said  he,  "they  will  be 
very  glad  to  see  you."  After  a  little  more  talk,  we 
continued  down  river,  well  supplied  with  provisions 
and  in  a  very  good  humor,  though  we  had  still  a  long 
distance  to  paddle.     A  few  days  after  leaving  the 

•  A  boat  of  this  name,  but  I  should  suppose  not  the  one  here  in 
mention,  was  burnt  5  m,  below  Upper  Bonhomme  isl.,  Apr.  12, 
1869.  She  was  a  side-wheeler,  180X32  ft.,  326  tons,  in  the  Benton 
trade,  W.  R.  Massie,  owner;  total  loss,  boat  $20,000,  cargo  $38,- 
000;  chambermaid  burned  to  death.  (Chittenden,  App.  WW  Ann. 
Rep.  Chf.  Engs.,  1897,  p.  3872.) 


AT   HOME  IN   BALTIMORE.  I47 

steamer  we  reached  a  small  town  called  Camden/ 
where  we  met  a  boat  bound  for  Fort  Leavenworth, 
and  made  arrangements  for  our  passage  to  St.  Louis 
on  her  return,  which  we  awaited  at  this  little  town. 
Having  no  further  use  for  our  little  craft,  we  made  a 
present  of  it  to  our  two  men,  and  next  day  we  were 
comfortably  lodged  on  board  the  steamer,  whose 
name  I  have  forgotten,  as  well  as  that  of  the  captain. 
Great  was  the  change,  after  paddling  our  own  canoe 
for  a  month  through  all  kinds  of  dangers,  to  find  our- 
selves seated  at  table  and  gliding  down  stream  at  the 
rate  of  20  miles  an  hour.  At  that  rate  it  was  not 
many  days  before  we  reached  St.  Louis. 

I  left  next  day  for  Baltimore  by  stage  to  Louisville, 
thence  to  Cincinnati,  thence  to  Brownsville;  then 
stage  again  to  Baltimore.  But  at  that  time  the  stage 
stopped  at  Frederickstown  * — I  believe  40  miles  from 
Baltimore — where  we  took  cars  which  were  pro- 
pelled by  horse  power,  not  having  as  yet  any  engine. 

As  it  is  mostly  my  object  to  relate  what  happened 
in  the  Indian  country,  I  will  merely  state  here  that  I 
had  great  pleasure  in  seeing  my  relatives  again,  after 
the  absence  of  10  years;  and  as  nothing  was  spared  to 
make  my  stay  agreeable,  I  enjoyed  myself  very  much. 

'  Camden,  Ray  Co.,  Mo. 

*  Doubtless  meaning  Frederick,  Md.,  which  is  61   m.  by  rail 
from  Baltimore. 


148  SHOOTING  MATCH. 

Leaving  the  reader  to  imagine  the  surprise  of  my  un- 
expected return,  I  will  soon  take  him  with  me  on  the 
way  back  to  Fort  Union.  But,  before  starting  up  the 
Missouri,  I  will  give  a  little  incident  of  my  return  to 
St.  Louis.  This  took  place  in  a  small  town  in  the 
Alleghany  mountains  called  McConnelltown,"  and 
will  show  how  one  may  get  praised  without  deserv- 
ing it,  as  happened  to  be  my  case.  Mr.  Denig,  the 
bookkeeper  of  Fort  Union,  whose  parents  resided  in 
this  town,  had  given  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  his 
father,  the  doctor,  and  also  a  letter  of  his  own  to  his 
parents,  both  of  which  I  delivered  with  pleasure,  as 
the  place  was  on  the  stage  route.  There  was  great 
rejoicing  on  my  arrival  at  Dr.  Denig's.  The  old  gen- 
tleman was  about  fifty  and  the  old  lady  not  far  from 
it;  both  were  good,  respectable  people,  who  paid 
all  the  attention  to  me  that  could  be  expected.  I  re- 
mained three  days,  during  which  a  report  was  circu- 
lated that  there  was,  at  the  doctor's,  a  certain  gentle- 
man who  was  said  to  be  a  crack  shot.  So  a  target 
was  prepared  for  a  shooting  match.  Although  I  did 
not  consider  myself  a  marksman,  and,  in  reality,  was 
not,  I  accepted  the  challenge.  There  was  no  bet- 
ting— it  was  merely  to  try  me  as  a  sharpshooter. 
Their  best  marksman  was  picked  out — one  that  could 

*  McConnellstown  is  in  Huntingdon  Co.,  Pa.    It  may  be  a  ques- 
tion of  McConnellsburg,  Fulton  Co. 


DRIVING  THE  CENTER.  149 

knock  out  a  squirrel's  eye  on  the  top  of  the  highest 
tree  in  the  mountains  at  every  pop.  Accompanied 
by  the  two  sons  of  Dr.  Denig,  and  two  hired  men, 
we  started  for  the  appointed  place,  where  a  large 
crowd  of  all  sorts  of  people  was  awaiting  my  arrival, 
with  targets  all  ready  for  action.  The  conditions 
were  best  three  out  of  five  shots  at  thirty  paces,  un- 
less the  center  was  driven.  My  opponent  was  a  stout, 
fine-looking  Pennsylvania  Dutchman  named  Keizer. 
It  was  my  first  shot,  and  I  made  a  close  one;  he  shot 
nearly  a  tie;  but  out  of  the  five  I  happened  to  have 
the  best  three.  The  target  was  taken  down  and 
handed  to  me,  and  another  immediately  put  up.  It 
was  my  first  shot  again,  close  to  the  black  on  the  right 
side;  Keizer  shot  next,  on  the  left,  somewhat  nearer 
than  mine.  Then  came  my  second  shot,  when  I  re- 
marked, by  way  of  braggadocio,  being  far  from  ex- 
pecting to  make  good  my  boast,  "  Now,  gentlemen, 
this  is  what  I  like!  When  there  is  a  shot  on  each  side 
of  the  black,  it  serves  as  a  guide  to  me,  and  I  gener- 
ally drive  the  center."  As  much  to  my  own  surprise 
as  to  that  of  all  the  rest,  it  was  driven — so  well  that 
this  could  not  have  been  more  precisely  done  by 
hand.  Imagine  the  looks  in  that  crowd,  disap- 
pointed to  see  their  crack  man  so  badly  beaten! 
But  Keizer  said  it  was  owing  to  his  having  chased  his 
sheep  that  day,  which  made  him  so  nervous  that  he 


I50  OFF  FROM   ST.   LOUIS. 

could  not  shoot.  I  put  both  targets  in  my  pocket- 
book,  and  brought  them  to  Mr.  Denig  at  Union. 
Old  Dr.  Denig  was  well  pleased,  and  said,  "  Were  I 
in  your  place,  now  that  your  name  is  up,  I  would  not 
shoot  any  more."     Neither  did  I. 

Next  day  I  left  McConnellstown,  and  nothing  took 
place  worth  mentioning  on  the  journey  to  St.  Louis 
until  our  departure  thence  for  Fort  Union.  I  should 
have  said  before  that  I  left  Baltimore  on  the  13th 
of  September  [  ?] ,  1 838.  Mr.  D.  D.  Mitchell,  who  had 
come  down  in  the  steamer,  and  was  about  to  return  to 
Union,  was  our  chief;  besides  whom,  Clerk  Jacques 
Bruguiere,  myself,  and  two  men  composed  the  party. 
We  traveled  on  pleasantly  until  we  reached  Poncah 
creek,"  when  most  of  our  men  were  taken  with  fever 
and  ague  at  such  a  rate  that,  instead  of  eating  down 
they  were  all  throwing  up.  This  kept  us  two  or  three 
days  longer  than  we  should  have  stayed  at  the  creek. 
The  day  we  left  to  strike  for  White  Earth  river  "  I 


'*  Ponka  or  Ponca  river,  next  above  the  Niobrara,  on  the  same 
side  of  the  Missouri,  near  the  southern  border  of  S.  Dak.  See 
L.  and  C,  ed.  1893,  p.  108. 

"  The  same  which  Larpenteur  elsewhere  and  usually  calls 
White  river,  the  first  considerable  tributary  of  the  Missouri  from 
the  N.  above  Little  Knife  river,  in  N.  Dak. ;  station  White  Earth 
on  it,  where  the  railroad  now  crosses.  This  is  not  the  stream  so 
called  by  Lewis  and  Clark  (see  ed.  of  1893,  pp.  275,  278),  nor  the 
White  river  of  S.  Dak. 


FEVER  AND   AGUE.  151 

was  taken  with  such  an  awful  shake  that,  when  on 
horseback,  I  could  keep  my  seat  only  by  holding  on 
with  all  my  might  to  my  rifle  across  my  saddle;  and 
I  cut  such  a  figure  that  it  excited  the  mirth  of  the 
party,  who  laughed  at  me  all  through  their  pretended 
sympathy.  After  the  shake  came  the  fever,  and  then 
thirst — but  no  water — I  thought  I  should  die  for  want 
of  water.  I  had  two  such  shakes  before  we  arrived 
at  Fort  Pierre,  where  we  remained  two  days.  Mr. 
Halsey  gave  me  some  good  medicine,  and  after  a  cou- 
ple of  light  shakes  I  recovered  entirely.  Then  came 
the  tremendous  appetite.  I  was  really  ashamed  of 
myself  at  meal  time.  But  Mr.  Mitchell  was  very 
liberal  in  helping  us  to  well-filled  plates,  and  when  he 
saw  that  I  had  made  away  with  the  contents  of  mine, 
would  say,  "  Back  up  your  cart,  Larpenteur,  for  an- 
other load."  Only  those  who  have  traveled  the  prai- 
rie know  what  a  voracious  appetite  is  acquired  on 
such  tramps.  Having  had  the  ague,  which  is  always 
followed  by  an  increase  of  the  regular  prairie  appetite, 
we  became  ravenous,  and  soon  made  away  with  our 
provisions.  Three  days  before  our  arrival  at  Fort 
Clark,  at  the  Mandans,  we  were  out  of  everything  ex- 
cept sugar  and  coffee;  for,  singular  to  say,  even  at 
that  early  period  bufifalo  had  become  scarce. 

Thus  far  I  had  proved  myself  to  be  about  the  best 
hunter  in  the  company,  having  killed  some  few  ante- 


152  DEER    HUNTING. 

lopes,  badgers,  and  prairie-dogs,  as  we  had  been  all 
this  time  in  the  open  prairies.  When  we  were  ap- 
proaching Fort  Clark,  and  had  reached  the  points  of 
timber  of  the  Missouri,  I  proposed  to  Mr.  Mitchell  to 
try  my  luck  in  search  of  deer,  as  our  rations  had  given 
out  and  we  had  but  one  cup  of  coffee  left.  He  readily 
consented,  saying,  "  Take  Brazo  along;  he  is  some- 
what of  a  hunter."  Having  been  told  where  he  would 
camp,  I  and  my  man  started  together;  but  we  soon 
separated,  each  choosing  his  own  direction  through 
the  wooded  point.  I  soon  perceived  a  fine  large  buck. 
I  knew  that  my  old  horse  would  stand  fire — ^you 
might  shoot  off  the  whole  of  the  United  States  artil- 
lery around  him  without  making  him  move — stand- 
ing still  was  his  forte.  I  rose  in  my  stirrups  and 
pulled  the  trigger;  but  away  went  the  buck,  not  with- 
out leaving  a  lock  of  his  hair,  which  I  saw  fly.  Be- 
ing sure  that  I  had  made  a  good  shot,  I  got  off  my 
steady  old  horse  and  commenced  the  search.  In 
the  meantime  Brazo,  who  had  heard  the  shot,  came 
up  and  asked  what  I  had  fired  at.  I  replied,  "  A  large 
buck,  which  I  am  sure  I  wounded."  So  he  joined 
me  in  the  search;  but,  as  I  could  find  no  blood,  I  soon 
proposed  to  abandon  the  trail.  Brazo  then  re- 
marked, "  No,  Mr.  Larpenteur,  I  have  seen  blood ;  let 
us  look  a  little  while  longer."  Encouraged  by  this 
we  resumed  our  search,  and  in  less  than  ten  minutes 


FORT  CLARK   AGAIN.  1 53 

we  saw  the  fine  buck,  stretched  dead,  having  been 
shot  through  the  heart.  In  a  Httle  while  he  was  cut 
up  and  put  on  my  horse,  and  we  were  on  our  way  to 
camp,  Brazo,  not  hking  the  idea  of  coming  into 
camp  without  any  game,  struck  out  to  try  his  hick 
again.  1  did  not  expect  to  get  any  more  game  on  the 
way  to  camp;  but  luckily  came  full  on  a  band  of  five 
deer,  which  stood  about  80  paces  from  me.  I  drew 
a  bead  on  one  of  them,  which  fell  at  the  crack  of  the 
gun.  No  need  looking  for  this  one,  as  it  was  shot 
through  the  neck.  Poor  Brazo,  who  had  got  but  a 
little  way  off,  came  up  to  ask  what  I  had  killed.  I 
told  him  "  A  fine  fat  doe."  "  Well,  you  are  in  luck!  " 
said  he.  Having  cut  up  the  meat  and  loaded  it  on 
Brazo's  horse,  we  struck  for  camp,  which  we  reached 
just  at  dark.  I  leave  the  reader  to  imagine  the  ex- 
clamations of  joy  made  at  the  sight  of  so  much  fine 
meat;  but  the  question  arose,  "  Who  killed  all  that?  " 
I  said  I  had  killed  both  deer.  Then  it  was  *'  Hurrah 
for  Larpenteur!  Come,  boys,  get  up  your  kettles!  " 
While  the  kettles  were  boiling  French  voyageur  songs 
resounded,  and  all  felt  quite  set  up  except  poor 
Brazo,  who  seemed  to  be  down  in  the  dumps. 

The  third  day  we  entered  Fort  Clark  early  and 
found  Mr.  Chardon  in  charge,  who  received  us  with 
hoisted  flag  and  several  rounds  from  his  small  piece 
of  artillery.     There  we  took  supplies  to  last  us  to 


154  WHITE   EARTH   RIVER. 

Union,  and  the  following  morning  resumed  our  jour- 
ney, Mr.  Mitchell  being  our  boss  and  guide.  It  was 
now  October  and  the  mornings  were  getting  quite 
cold,  with  heavy  white  frosts.  The  second  morning 
after  we  left  Fort  Clark  my  old  horse  tumbled  into 
a  miry  little  creek, ^^  and,  not  being  able  to  extricate 
himself,  came  down  broadside  before  I  could  jump 
out  of  the  saddle.  When  they  saw  me  so  well 
drenched  they  could  not  refrain  from  indulging  in 
mirth  at  my  misfortune.  Our  guide,  not  being  very 
well  scienced,  struck  too  far  south,  in  consequence 
of  which  we  were  three  nights  without  wood  and  had 
to  burn  buffalo  chips;  but.  as  good  luck  would  have 
it,  we  were  favored  with  clear,  dry  weather  and  could 
make  good  fires.  But  our  animals  fared  badly,  as 
the  route  we  took  brought  us  into  alkali  country; 
some  we  had  to  leave,  and  others  died  at  the  fort. 

On  the  fifth  day  after  we  left  Fort  Clark  we  struck 
White  river,  too  far  up;  but  we  got  into  some  scrawly 
timber,  which  was  mighty  good  after  having  nothing 
but  buffalo  chips  to  burn  for  three  nights.  Brazo, 
who  was  in  the  habit  of  coming  into  camp  last,  said 
he  had  heard  dogs  barking,  and  also  thought  he  had 

'*  Doubtless  Miry  creek  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  ed.  1893,  p.  261, 
translating  Riviere  Bourbeuse  of  the  French.  This  is  present 
Snake  creek,  next  above  Wolf  creek,  and  is  a  small  stream  from 
the  right,  which  was  crossed  near  its  mouth  by  the  regular  trail 
from  Fort  Clark  to  Fort  Stevenson. 


"Indians!"  155 

heard  squaws  talking,  and  added,  "  There's  Indians 
close  by."  This  news  put  a  stop  to  our  pleasant  feel- 
ings and  a  guard  was  set.  Apprehending  attack 
early  in  the  morning,  sleep  was  light  that  night;  but 
we  happened  to  be  mistaken  in  our  apprehensions. 
Daylight  came  all  right,  breakfast  was  gotten  up,  and 
still  no  Indians;  so  we  commenced  to  think  Brazo  had 
been  mistaken.  But  we  had  not  left  camp  more  than 
an  hour  when  some  one  cried  out,  "Indians!"  Before 
any  preparations  could  be  made,  a  whole  host  was 
upon  us;  but  we  soon  found  that  they  were  some 
Assiniboines  who  had  camped  a  little  above  where  we 
did  last  night ;  it  was  only  on  account  of  our  late  arri- 
val that  they  had  not  discovered  us.  They  told  us  it 
would  take  us  two  more  days  to  get  to  Fort  Union, 
for  our  horses  were  poor  and  we  could  not  travel  fast. 
Some  of  the  leading  men  proposed  to  go  along  with 
us,  which  was  agreed  upon;  for  the  sake  of  a  little 
whiskey  they  would  have  gone  any  distance.  But 
some  of  the  rabble  followed,  whose  looks  we  did  not 
like,  and  whom  we  would  have  been  glad  to  see  turn 
back ;  for  they  looked  very  much  like  those  who  made 
it  a  habit  to  borrow,  and  forget  to  return,  a  white 
man's  horse.  As  they  excited  great  suspicion,  the 
guard  was  doubled;  but,  in  spite  of  all  our  precau- 
tions, they  managed  to  get  oflf  with  two  horses,  one 
of  which  belonged  to  an  individual  by  the  name  of 


156  POLYGLOT   MALEDICTION. 

Antoine  Frenier,  a  half-breed  whom  Mr.  Mitchell  had 
engaged  at  Fort  Clark  as  interpreter  for  Fort  Union. 
When  he  found  that  his  favorite  horse  had  been  bor- 
rowed and  was  not  likely  to  be  returned,  he  began  to 
give  the  Assiniboines  such  a  blessing,  with  the  aid  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  whom  he  invoked  to  assist  him  in 
strengthening  his  remarks,  that  I  defy  any  Catholic 
priest  to  make  a  better  one.  The  Indians,  who  had 
learned  by  this  time  that  he  was  to  be  the  interpreter, 
were  convinced,  by  this  blessing,  that  he  understood 
their  language.  In  spite  of  all  this  we  were  under 
way  by  sunrise,  with  glad  hearts  after  all,  thinking 
that  we  had  but  once  more  to  sleep  outside,  excepting 
the  old  interpreter,  who  now  and  then  addressed  a 
prayer  to  the  Holy  Virgin  for  the  benefit  of  the  As- 
siniboines, and  to  the  great  mirth  of  the  company, 
sometimes  in  French  and  sometimes  in  Assiniboine, 
but  always  mixed  with  a  little  Cree,  as  he  was  a  lialf- 
breed  from  the  North.  It  seemed  impossible  for  him 
to  recover  from  the  loss  of  his  nag  sufficiently  to  ab- 
stain from  his  devotions. 

Our  last  camp  was  on  the  Big  Muddy."    Although 
we  hoped  that  we  had  gotten  rid  of  the  horse  thieves, 

"Present  name;  last  considerable  stream  from  the  N.  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone;  Williston  at  its  mouth,  where  the 
railroad  crosses.  This  is  the  White  Earth  river  of  Lewis  and 
Clark,  ed.  of  1893,  p.  278,  but  not  the  White  Earth  or  White  river 
of  present  nomenclature. 


BACK   TO   FORT   UNION.  1 57 

it  was  thought  proper  to  keep  up  a  strong  guard, 
which  consisted  of  one-half  of  the  party  for  each  half 
of  the  night ;  but  as  it  was  very  dark,  the  Assiniboines 
made  out  to  take  two  of  our  best  horses,  one  of  which 
was  Mr.  Mitchell's.  The  chiefs  said  that  they  knew 
who  had  stolen  the  horses,  and  told  us  not  to  be  un- 
easy, for  we  should  get  the  animals  back  again.  They 
proved  as  good  as  their  word;  our  two  horses  were 
returned  shortly  afterward,  though  the  interpreter's 
was  never  recovered.  Thus,  half  consoled,  we  again 
got  under  way,  and  did  not  stop  until  we  entered 
Fort  Union,  which  we  did  about  4  p.  m.,  with  a  salute 
of  many  shots  from  the  artillery,  and  the  large  flag 
flying.  This  was  on  the  12th  of  October  [1838];" 
and  my  reader  can  guess  who  felt  good  after  a  six- 
weeks'  ride  through  the  wild  prairies. 

'■♦The  year  1838  is  correct,  but  Larpenteur  is  out  at  least^a 
month  if,  as  he  says  on  p.  150,  he  left  Baltimore  Sept.  13;  he  could 
not  have  gone  from  Baltimore  to  Fort  Union  inside  of  a  month. 
He  has  been  traveling  in  such  good  weather  that  most  probably 
the  Baltimore  date  is  wrong,  and  the  Fort  Union  date  right. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
(1838-42.) 

COMPOSED  OF  ALL  SORTS. 

Thanks  to  kind  Providence,  here  I  am  again  in 
good  old  Fort  Union,  at  a  splendid  table,  with  that 
great  prairie  appetite  to  do  it  justice.  The  day  after 
my  arrival  I  was  reinstated  in  the  liquor  shop,  and  as 
it  was  the  height  of  the  meat  trade  I  had  enough  to 
do,  night  and  day.  Excepting  plenty  of  buffalo,  deer, 
and  rabbit  hunting,  nothing  took  place  worth  men- 
tioning until  Christmas  [1838].  On  this  anniversary 
a  great  dinner  is  generally  made,  but  that  was  never 
the  case  here,  as  it  was  always  taken  out  in  drinkables 
instead  of  eatables;  and  I,  who  did  not  drink,  had  to 
do  without  my  dinner.  At  the  height  of  the  spree 
the  tailor  and  one  of  the  carpenters  had  a  fight  in  the 
shop,  while  others  took  theirs  outside,  and  toward 
evening  I  was  informed  that  Marseillais,  our  hunter, 
had  been  killed  and  thrown  into  the  fireplace.  We 
immediately  ran  in,  and,  sure  enough,  there  he  was, 
badly  burned  and  senseless,  but  not  dead  yet.     We 

158 


FATAL   FESTIVITIES.  I  59 

were  not  at  first  sure  whether  this  was  the  mere  effect 
of  liquor,  or  had  happened  from  fighting;  but  we 
learned  that  a  fight  had  taken  place,  and  on  examina- 
tion we  found  that  he  had  been  stabbed  in  several 
places  with  a  small  dirk.  Knowing  that  the  tailor 
had  such  a  weapon,  we  suspected  him  and  demanded 
it.  He  was  at  that  time  standing  behind  his  table; 
I  saw  him  jerk  the  dirk  out  of  his  pocket  and  throw  it 
under  the  table.  I  immediately  picked  it  up;  it  was 
bloody,  and  from  its  size  we  judged  it  to  be  the 
weapon  with  which  the  wounds  had  been  inflicted. 
Having  learned  that  the  carpenter  had  also  been  in 
the  fight,  they  both  were  placed  in  irons  and  confined 
to  await  their  trial.  As  such  Christmas  frolics  could 
not  be  brought  to  a  head  much  under  three  days,  the 
trial  took  place  on  the  fourth  day.  when  a  regular 
court  was  held.  Everything  being  readv,  the  crimi- 
nals were  sent  for,  the  witnesses  were  well  examined, 
and  after  a  short  session  the  jury  returned  a  verdict, 
*'  Guilty  of  murder."  The  judge  then  pronounced 
sentence  on  the  convicted  murderers,  which  was  that 
they  be  hanged  by  the  neck,  until  they  were  '*  dead, 
dead,  dead!  "  But,  not  considering  it  entirely  safe  to 
have  this  sentence  executed,  he  changed  it  to  thirty- 
nine  lashes  apiece.  John  Brazo  was  appointed  exe- 
cutioner. Always  ready  for  such  sport,  he  immedi- 
ately went  in  quest  of  his  large  ox-whip,  and,  not 


l6o  ROUND   TRIP  TO   ST.   LOUIS. 

making  any  difference  between  men  and  oxen,  he  ap- 
plied it  at  such  a  rate  that  Mr.  Mitchell,  the  judge, 
had  now  and  then  to  say,  "  Moderate,  John,  moder- 
ate"; for  had  John  been  suffered  to  keep  on,  it  is 
very  likely  that  the  first  sentence  would  have  been 
executed. 

After  this  everything  went  on  perfectly  smooth. 
A  very  large  trade  was  made,  and  everybody  was 
satisfied;  and  in  time  preparations  were  made  to  take 
down  the  returns.  On  the  3d  of  June  [1839]  I  was 
sent  to  St.  Louis  in  charge  of  eight  Mackinaw  boats, 
each  containing  250  packs  of  buffalo  robes,  besides 
many  small  furs.  The  trip  was  very  pleasant,  with 
the  exception  of  being  nearly  shot  by  Assiniboines 
at  the  same  place  where  we  had  been  attacked 
the  previous  spring.  The  disagreeable  features  of 
these  trips  are  caused,  mainly,  by  the  crews  getting 
whiskey  and  becoming  unruly;  but  I  managed  to  get 
along  admirably  well,  and  succeeded  in  landing  all  my 
boats  safe  in  the  port  of  St.  Louis.  These  w^ere  the 
last  landed  there,  as  no  companies  would  insure  be- 
low St.  Joseph,  on  account  of  the  drunkenness  of 
the  men,  whic)i  had  caused  the  loss  of  many  boats. 

For  what  reason  I  have  never  been  able  to  find  out, 
though  I  always  attributed  it  to  that  old  tyrant,  Mr. 
Laidlaw,  the  Company  would  not  then  hire  me 
again;  so  I  remained  that  winter  [of  1839-40]  in  St. 


RETURN  TO   FORT  UNION.  l6l 

Louis.  It  happened  during  this  time  that  Mr.  Mc- 
Kenzie,  Mr,  Mitchell,  and  old  Mr.  Chabane  ^  got  at 
difference  with  the  American  Fur  Co.,  in  consequence 
of  which  they  raised  a  large  outfit  to  oppose  it;  but 
by  some  means  the  misunderstanding  was  made  up. 
In  the  meantime  I  had  been  re-engaged,  and  ar- 
rangements were  made  for  my  return  to  Fort  Union. 
On  the  31st  of  March  [1840]  I  was  on  the  steamer 
Trapper,  and  after  a  long,  tedious  trip  we  reached 
Union  on  the  27th  of  June.  My  being  a  sober  man 
was  not  much  to  my  advantage,  keeping  me  con- 
stantly in  the  liquor  trade,  and  out  of  the  charge  of 

'  John  P.  Cabanne.  The  surname  appears  in  many  forms  ;  if 
one  of  these  be  Cabanis,  it  is  that  of  at  least  two  celebrated 
European  scientists — Pierre  Jean  George  Cabanis,  the  French 
physicist  and  psychist,  and  Dr.  Jean  Cabanis,  the  German  orni- 
thologist. But  as  to  the  great  fur  trader,  John  P.  Cabanne  of 
St.  Louis:  "On  May  i,  1813,  '  Berthold  &  Chouteau'  opened 
their  new  firm.  .  .  This  was  the  foundation  and  origin  of  what 
in  a  very  few  years  thereafter,  by  the  addition  of  two  new  part- 
ners, Messrs.  Jno.  P.  Cabanne  and  Bernard  Pratte,  Sr.,  .  .  .  be- 
came the  great  and  wealthy  '  American  Fur  Company,'  "  Billon, 
Ann.  St.  Louis,  1804-1 821,  pub.  1888,  p.  234.  In  the  same  Annals, 
pp.  399-402,  is  a  biographical  sketch  of  J.  P.  Cabann6,  with  plate 
of  his  country  homestead  of  1819;  his  later  city  residence,  built 
1833,  was  No.  20  Vine  St.,  St.  Louis,  where  he  died  on  Sunday, 
June  27,  1841,  aged  68  years,  having  been  bom  in  France,  Oct. 
18,  1773.  His  wife  was  Julia  Gratiot,  b.  July  24,  1782,  m.  Apr.  8, 
1799,  d.  Apr.  14,  1852;  they  had  eleven  children,  among  them 
John  Charles  Cabann6,  b.  Nov.  4,  1806,  d.  July  17,  1854,  whose 
eldest  son  was  John  Pierre  Cabanne,  jr. 


l62  ORDERED  TO   FORT  VAN  BUREN. 

posts  which  some  of  my  fellow-clerks  took  charge  of, 
while  I  did  all  the  work,  and  was  really  in  charge 
when  they  got  dead  drunk.  Mr.  Laidlaw  the  Father, 
Mr.  Denig  the  Son,  and  Mr,  Jacques  Bruguiere  the 
Holy  Ghost,  formed  the  Trinity  at  Union  last  [  ?]  win- 
ter, and  a  trio  of  greater  drunkards  could  not  have 
been  got  together.  The  consequence  was  that  the 
large  meat  trade  was  lost.  Indians  would  trade  robes 
with  Mr.  Laidlaw  in  the  office,  steal  them  back,  and 
trade  them  again  with  Mr.  Bruguiere  at  the  regular 
shop.  The  reason  why  Mr.  Laidlaw  opened  trade  in 
the  office  was,  he  said,  that  Bruguiere  got  too  drunk 
to  hold  out;  but  Laidlaw  was  the  greater  drunkard 
of  the  two. 

About  the  latter  part  of  May,  1842,^  Mr.  Alexander 
Culbertson,  who  was  in  charge  of  Union,  sent  me  up 
to  Fort  Van  Buren,  at  the  mouth  of  Rosebud  river, 
on  the  Yellowstone,  with  a  party  of  10  men,  to  bring 
down  the  returns.  He  also  instructed  me  to  build 
another  post  at  Adams  Prairie,  about  20  miles  above, 
where  he  expected  me  to  remain  in  charge,  as  he  was 
not  sure  that  Mr.  Murray,  who  was  then  in  charge  of 
Van  Buren,  would  be  re-engaged.     Next  day  we  left 

'  So  copy,  distinctly  written  out — "  It  was  in  forty-two,  about 
the  latter  part  of  May."  I  have  no  Grig.  Joum.  by  which  to 
check  dates  along  here,  but  that  1842  is  correct  will  appear  by 
the  De  Smet  incident,  etc.,  beyond.  Larpenteur  has  nothing  for 
1841  except  what  is  given  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 


ARRIVAL  AT   FORT  VAN   BUREN.  163 

Union,  and  a  pleasant  trip  we  had.  Our  guide,  a 
young  man  by  the  name  of  Lee,  who  was  a  first-rate 
hunter,  made  us  hve  on  buffalo  tongues  and  marrow 
bones.  A  few  days  after  my  arrival  at  Van  Buren 
the  boats  were  off  with  the  returns,  and  I  remained 
in  charge  of  my  first  post. 

Nothing  of  importance  occurred  during  the  time  I 
remained  at  this  place  except  one  little  incident,  which 
I  think  deserves  a  place  in  this  narrative.^     Two  or 

'Audubon  tells  the  same  story,  June  28,  1843,  Journ.  ii,  1897, 
p.  65 — doubtless  he  had  it  from  Larpenteur  himself:  "  One  of 
the  engages  of  the  Company  was  forced  to  run  away,  having 
killed  an  Indian  woman,  and  made  his  way  to  the  Crow  Fort,  300 
miles  up  the  Yellowstone.  When  he  arrived  there  he  was  in  sad 
plight,  having  his  own  squaw  and  one  or  two  children  along, 
who  had  all  suffered  greatly  with  hunger,  thirst,  and  exposure. 
They  were  received  at  the  fort,  but  in  a  short  time,  less  than  a 
week  afterwards,  he  again  ran  off  with  his  family,  and  on  foot. 
The  discovery  was  soon  made,  and  two  men  were  sent  after  him; 
but  he  eluded  their  vigilance  by  keeping  close  in  ravines,  etc. 
The  men  returned,  and  two  others  with  an  Indian  were  de- 
spatched on  a  second  search,  and  after  much  travel  saw  the  man 
and  his  family  on  an  island,  where  he  had  taken  refuge  from  his 
pursuers.  The  Buffalo-hide  canoe  in  which  he  had  attempted  to 
cross  the  river  was  upset,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  saved 
his  wife  and  children.  They  were  now  unable  to  escape,  and 
when  talking  as  to  the  best  way  to  return  to  the  fort,  the  soldiers 
saw  him  walk  to  the  body  of  a  dead  Buffalo  lying  on  the  shore 
of  the  island,  with  the  evident  intention  of  procuring  some  of  it 
for  food.  As  he  stooped  to  cut  off  a  portion,  to  his  utter  horror 
he  saw  a  small  Grizzly  Bear  crawl  out  from  the  carcase.  It 
attacked  him  fiercely,  and  so  suddenly  that  he  was  unable  to  de- 


164  THE   MEXICAN  AND   HIS  INDIA. 

three  weeks  after  the  boat  left,  a  certain  Mexican, 
who  had  been  employed  at  Fort  Union,  made  his 
appearance  with  his  squaw  nearly  naked,  and  said  to 
me,  "  Mr.  Larpenteur,  I  will  tell  you  the  truth.  I 
killed  a  squaw  at  the  meat  camp.  I  did  not  intend 
to  kill  her;  but  she  made  me  mad.  I  took  a  stick, 
struck  her  on  the  back  of  the  head,  and  she  fell  dead, 
I  then  ran  off,  fearing  some  of  her  connections,  who 
were  in  camp.  That  is  the  whole  truth,  captain  " — 
as  he  called  me.  "  Now  I  am  very  poor,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  and  my  India  " — as  he  called  his  squaw — "  is 
going  to  have  a  child.  Will  you  please  let  me  go  into 
your  fort?  I  will  do  anything  you  want  me  to  do." 
Having  but  four  men  with  me,  all  told,  and  seeing 
the  Mexican  so  pitiable,  I  allowed  him  to  come  in. 
Mexicans  being  only  fit  to  herd  horses,  I  employed 
him  on  horse-guard.  Had  his  India  not  been  with 
him  and  so  near  confinement,  I  would  not  have  given 
him  that  employment.  For  a  while  he  did  very  well, 
being  attentive  to  his  duties,  and  all  were  pleased 
with  him.  One  fine  afternoon  he  came  to  me,  saying, 
"  My  horses  are  all  doing  well.     I  have  got  them  in  a 

fend  himself;  the  Bear  lacerated  his  face,  arms,  and  the  upper 
part  of  his  body  in  a  frightful  manner,  and  would  have  killed 
him,  had  not  the  Indian  raised  his  g^n  and  fired  at  the  Bear, 
wounding  him  severely,  while  a  second  shot  killed  him.  The 
engage  was  too  much  hurt  to  make  further  effort  to  escape,  and 
one  of  the  Company's  boats  passing  soon  after,  he  and  his  family 
were  taken  back  to  the  fort,  where  he  was  kept  to  await  his  trial." 


THE   MEXICAN  AND   HIS    INDIA.  165 

good  safe  place.  Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  let  me 
go  with  my  India  in  search  of  some  pomme  blanche?  " 
which  is  the  French  name  for  Indian  turnips  [Psoralea 
esculenta] .  As  he  had  done  so  well  and  his  India  was 
so  near  her  time,  I  consented,  and  off  he  started, 
assuring  me  that  he  would  not  be  gone  more  than  a 
couple  of  hours.  But  that  time  passed,  and  neither 
the  Mexican  nor  his  India  appeared;  and  some  of  the 
men  said  they  should  not  wonder  if  he  had  made  his 
escape.  This  being  the  general  impression,  they  ex- 
amined a  little  old  box  in  which  he  kept  his  duds  and 
found  it  empty.  I  immediately  sent  after  the  horses, 
which  we  supposed  he  had  mounted,  but  found  them 
all  right.  Next  morning,  knowing  the  situation  of 
his  squaw,  and  thinking  that  he  might  be  lurking 
around  for  a  chance  to  steal  horses,  I  sent  my  hunter 
and  an  old  Crow  in  search  of  the  Mexican,  under 
promise  of  $10  reward  if  they  should  find  him. 
About  3  p.  m.  I  saw  them  returning;  the  old  Indian 
having  the  squaw  behind  him  on  his  horse,  with  the 
child  in  her  arms,  and  the  Mexican  trotting  be- 
hind with  nothing  on  but  his  shirt — thus  all  ready 
to  be  tied  up  to  the  flagstaff.  This  was  immediately 
done,  and  he  would  have  received  a  good  dose,  had 
not  he  begged  so  hard  and  looked  so  pitiable  that  he 
was  let  go  unpunished.  They  had  found  him  about 
10  miles  below  the  fort  on  the  banks  of  the  Yellow- 


1 66  ARRIVAL  OF  THE  CROW   OUTFIT. 

stone,  where  he  had  made  a  raft  to  cross  over;  but  the 
raft,  not  being  well  constructed,  came  apart  when  in 
the  middle  of  the  river,  and  he  lost  all  his  duds  except 
his  shirt  in  saving  his  squaw,  who,  he  said,  had  her 
child  immediately  on  landing,  the  fright  having  hur- 
ried the  birth.  I  pitied  the  squaw,  but  the  Mexican 
I  determined  to  ship  off.  So  the  next  morning  I 
gave  him  a  skin  boat,  a  little  dried  bufifalo  meat,  a 
knife,  a  steel  for  :triking  fire,  and  a  fish-hook  and  line, 
with  which  I  told  him  to  clear  out  and  never  make 
his  appearance  at  this  place  again. 

Not  long  after  this  occurrence  Mr.  Auguste  Chou- 
teau arrived  with  the  outfit  for  the  Crows,  also  bring- 
ing back  the  Mexican  and  his  lady.  On  reprimand- 
ing him  for  so  doing,  he  told  me  that  he  could  not  well 
help  it,  considering  the  situation  in  which  he  had 
found  them.  It  had  happened  that  the  Mexican,  on 
his  way  down  river,  saw  a  buffalo  mired  near  the 
bank;  and,  having  no  meat,  thought  this  would  be 
a  good  opportunity  to  lay  in  a  supply.  Judge  of  his 
surprise  when  Mr.  Bruin,  who  was  lying  in  wait  be- 
hind the  buffalo,  made  a  grab  at  the  man,  tearing 
him  so  badly  that,  when  he  was  met  by  Mr.  Chou- 
teau, he  was  scarcely  expected  to  live.  Thus  ends 
the  story  of  the  Mexican,  except  that,  some  time 
afterward,  he  was  killed  by  the  relations  of  the  squaw 
he  had  murdered  at  Union. 


CHARACTER  OF  ALEXANDER  HARVEY.     1 6/ 

Among  the  news  that  Mr.  Chouteau  brought  up 
was  that  of  Alexander  Harvey's  kilHng  Isidore,  the 
Spaniard.  As  I  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to  men- 
tion Harvey,  I  will  here  give  some  idea  of  his  charac- 
ter. He  was  a  native  of  St.  Louis,  who  served  some 
time  learning  the  saddle  trade  with  Thornton  Grims- 
ley.*  As  he  happened  to  be  one  of  those  men  that 
never  can  be  convinced,  and  with  whom  it  was  no 
use  to  argue  unless  one  wished  to  get  into  a  fight, 
he  remained  but  a  short  time  at  his  trade.  Though 
not  yet  of  age  he  engaged  with  a  fur-trapping  com- 
pany for  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Having  found  his 
way  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  about  the  time 
that  Fort  McKenzie  was  built,  he  engaged  with  the 
American  Fur  Company  for  that  post.  There  he  re- 
mained for  a  number  of  years  [to  fall  of  1839] ;  but 
became  so  wicked  and  troublesome,  and  was  so  much 
feared  by  all  hands  at  the  fort,  that  reports  were  made 
to  Mr.  Chouteau  in  St.  Louis,  who  sent  him  his  dis- 
charge by  the  fall  express,  which  did  not  reach  Fort 
McKenzie  until  about  Christmas.  He  was  undoubt- 
edly the  boldest  man  that  was  ever  on  the  Missouri 
— I  mean  in  the  Indian  country;  a  man  about  six 
feet  tall,  weighing  160  or  170  pounds,  and  inclined  to 
do  right  when  sober.     On  hearing  of  his  discharge, 

*  Thornton  Grimsley  and  Wm.  Stark  had  a  harness  shop  in  St. 
Louis,  Aug.  20,  1820.     (Advt.  in  a  newspaper  of  that  date.) 


i68      Harvey's  threatened  settlements. 

and  being  requested  to  report  in  person  at  St.  Louis 
— which  was  simply  to  get  him  out  of  the  country — 
he  remarked,  "  I  will  not  let  Mr.  Chouteau  wait  long 
on  me.  I  shall  start  in  the  morning ;  all  I  want  for  my 
journey  is  my  rifle,  and  my  dog  to  carry  bedding." 
Sure  enough,  in  spite  of  all  remonstrances  regard- 
ing the  hardships  to  which  he  would  expose  himself 
on  such  a  long  journey  alone  at  that  season  of  the 
year,  he  set  out,  good  as  his  word. 

Early  in  March  he  reached  St.  Louis,  to  the  great 
astonishment  of  Mr.  Chouteau,  who,  after  hearing 
Harvey's  story,  and  learning  what  a  journey  he  had 
performed,  could  not  but  re-engage  him  to  return  to 
Fort  McKenzie.  He  returned  at  the  same  time  that 
I  reached  Union,  in  the  steamer  Trapper  [June  27, 
1840] .  On  the  way  up  he  now  and  then  remarked  to 
me,  "  Larpenteur,  I  have  several  settlements  to  make 
with  those  gentlemen  who  caused  me  last  winter's 
tramp;  I  never  forget  or  forgive;  it  may  not  be  for 
ten  years,  but  they  all  will  have  to  catch  it."  Being 
as  good  as  his  word,  at  Fort  Clark  he  pounded 
awfully  one  of  the  men  who  had  reported  him,  saying, 
"That's  No.  I."  On  his  arrival  at  Fort  Union, 
where  many  had  come  down  with  the  returns,  intend- 
ing to  go  back  with  the  outfit  to  Fort  McKenzie,  and 
never  thinking  of  coming  in  contact  with  Harvey, 
they  were  much  surprised  when  he  made  his  appear- 


PLOT  TO   KILL  HARVEY.  1 69 

ance  among  about  60  men,  in  search  of  reporters;  and 
at  every  glimpse  he  could  get  of  one  of  them  it  was  a 
knockdown,  followed  by  a  good  pounding.  Whiskey 
had  nothing  to  do  with  this;  he  was  perfectly  sober, 
only  fulfilling  his  promises.  This  will  show  what  sort 
of  a  man  Harvey  was;  but  there  is  more  to  tell,  and 
now  we  return  to  the  Spaniard  story. 

It  was  in  1841,  when  the  Spaniard  and  Harvey  hap- 
pened to  go  down  together  with  the  returns,  which 
were  then  taken  in  Mackinaw  boats  to  St.  Louis. 
Both  intended  to  return  in  the  steamer,  which  they 
expected  to  meet  below  Fort  Pierre.  The  report  was 
generally  believed,  though  I  placed  no  reliance  on  it, 
that  a  plot  had  been  laid  on  the  way  up  to  Union,  by 
some  members  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  for  the 
Spaniard  to  kill  Harvey.  Both  had  long  been  sta- 
tioned at  Fort  McKenzie,  but  had  never  agreed, 
being  jealous  of  each  other  and  great  enemies.  The 
next  day  after  the  departure  of  the  steamer — a  day 
given  to  the  men  to  look  about  and  arrange  their  little 
efifects — the  Spaniard  took  occasion  to  commence 
hostilities,  and  was  soon  parading  with  his  rifle,  say- 
ing that  he  would  kill  Harvey.  For  the  first  time  in 
his  life  Harvey  was  persuaded  to  remain  in  the  house, 
supposing  it  was  only  liquor  that  caused  the  Span- 
iard to  make  those  threats;  so  the  day  passed,  and 
Harvey  was  still  alive.     The  second  day,  all  the  clerks 


I70  HARVEY   KILLS  THE  SPANIARD. 

were  called  up  to  get  the  equipments  ready  for  Fort 
McKenzie.  Mr.  Culbertson,  who  was  in  charge  of 
Union,  came  into  the  warehouse;  not  seeing  the 
Spaniard  with  the  other  clerks,  he  asked  where  the 
man  was,  and,  being  told,  sent  for  him.  But  Isidoro, 
instead  of  going  to  the  warehouse,  went  into  the  re- 
tail store  and  remained  behind  the  counter.  Mr. 
Culbertson  and  Harvey  both  being  in  the  store,  Har- 
vey began  by  asking  the  Spaniard  what  he  meant  by 
his  behavior  the  day  before.  "  You  are  too  big  a 
coward  to  come  out  and  fight  me  like  a  man;  you 
want  to  shoot  me  behind  my  back!  "  So  saying,  he 
left  the  store  and  dared  the  Spaniard  to  come  out; 
but  the  latter  never  moved.  When  Harvey  found 
that  his  enemy  would  not  come  out,  he  went  back  in 
the  store  and  said,  "  You  won't  fight  me  like  a  man, 
so  take  that! "  and  shot  him  through  the  head. 
After  this  he  went  to  the  middle  of  the  fort,  saying, 
"  I,  Alexander  Harvey,  have  killed  the  Spaniard.  If 
there  are  any  of  his  friends  who  want  to  take  it  up, 
let  them  come  on  " ;  but  no  one  dared  to  do  so,  and 
this  was  the  last  of  the  Spaniard. 

Now  we  will  set  fire  to  Fort  Van  Buren,  according 
to  instructions,  and  proceed  to  erect  Fort  Alexander, 
which  I  named  in  honor  of  Mr.  Alexander  Culbertson. 

Having  burned   Fort  Van  Buren,'*    I  left  with  20 

*  The  Journal  of  Lieutenant  James  H.  Bradley  appears  in  the 
Cent.  Mont.  Hist.  Soc.  ii,  1896,  pp.  140-228.     This  is  one  of  the 


VAN  BUREN   BURNED — ADAMS   PRAIRIE.  171 

laboring  men  for  Adams  Prairie,  20  miles  above  by- 
land,  about  40  by  water.  With  the  exception  of  hav- 
ing my  horses  stolen  by  Assiniboines  on  two  occa- 
sions, and  going  on  a  bear  hunt  with  Indians,  which 
latter  incident  I  will  narrate,  nothing  took  place  at 
Van  Buren  worth  mentioning.  The  theft  of  the  horses 
put  me  to  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  was  a  great 

most  readable  things  one  could  wish  to  see,  giving  a  lively,  realis- 
tic account  of  the  Sioux  campaign  of  1876  under  General  John 
Gibbon,  and  showing  that  history  as  well  as  literature  lost  a 
man  of  much  promise  in  Bradley's  death.  The  campaign  he  por- 
trays with  such  fidelity  culminated  in  the  Custer  massacre — 
just  where  Bradley's  narrative  breaks  off.  He  was  killed  at 
the  battle  of  the  Big  Hole  in  the  Nez  Perce  campaign,  Aug.  9, 
1877,  while  gallantly  leading  his  company  (B)  of  the  7th  U.  S. 
Infantry  in  a  charge  on  Chief  Joseph's  camp.  General  Gibbon 
was  an  old  army  friend  of  mine ;  I  well  remember  an  evening 
he  spent  at  my  house  in  Washington  in  1893,  looking  over 
Lewis  and  Clark's  MSS.,  discussing  Clark's  or  Gibbon's  Pass 
on  the  Continental  Divide,  and  then  the  battle  of  the  Big 
Hole,  in  which  the  gallant  old  soldier  was  badly  wounded, 
besides  being,  as  he  said,  "licked  like  the  devil"  by  Joseph, 
whom  he  characterized  as  one  of  the  best  soldiers  and  most 
thorough  gentlemen  he  had  ever  known.  But  the  saddest  inci- 
dent of  the  fight,  he  seemed  to  think,  was  the  death  of  Lieuten- 
ant Bradley.  Not  long  after  that  the  impressive  spectacle  of 
General  Gibbon's  funeral  was  seen  in  Washington — but  that  is 
another  story.  ,  . 

Bradley  says,  pp.  198,  199:  "  Another  object  of  my  visit  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Rosebud  was  to  inspect  the  ruins  of  the  old  trading 
fort  that  once  stood  here.  It  bore  the  name  of  Fort  Van  Buren 
and  was  built  by  TuUock  in  1839,  to  replace  Fort  Cass  situated 


172  STORY  OF  THE  GRIZZLY  BEAR. 

drawback  in  the  building  of  the  new  fort.  One  fine 
evening,  early  in  September  [1842],  a  certain  Crow 
returned  from  searching  for  his  horses,  saying  that 
a  Mr.  Grizzly  was  breakfasting  on  one  of  them,  and 
that,  as  one  man  was  not  enough  to  make  the  bear 
let  go  his  prey,  he  came  for  assistance.  A  bear  being 
considered  by  Indians  a  more  dangerous  enemy  than 

just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn  and  abandoned  the  pre- 
vious year.  It  was  the  second  post  maintained  by  the  American 
Fur  Co.  on  the  Yellowstone,  and  had  enjoyed  an  existence  of 
only  three  years  when  it  gave  way  to  Fort  Alexander,  built  by 
Larpenteur,  in  1842,  on  Adams'  prairie,  some  twenty  miles 
higher  up  the  Yellowstone.  The  accounts  of  the  fort  represent 
it  as  having  been  a  little  over  a  hundred  feet  square,  and  I  judge 
from  the  remains,  though  I  made  no  measurement,  that  it  was. 
Seven  ruined  stone  chimneys  and  a  slight  ridge  where  the  pali- 
sades stood  are  all  that  is  left  of  it. 

"  I  recorded  in  my  original  journal  of  this  visit:  '  The  palisades 
must  have  been  burned,  as  the  ridge  is  marked  with  cinders  and 
ashes;'  and  by  an  old  manuscript  that  has  fallen  into  my  hands  I 
find  that  it  was,  Larpenteur  having  set  fire  to  it  himself  on  the 
completion  of  his  other  fort.  The  fort  stood  on  a  plateau  some 
eighteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the  present  level  of  the  water,  a 
few  yards  from  the  bank  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  about  seventy- 
five  below  the  delta  of  the  Rosebud." 

By  our  present  account  it  appears  that  Larpenteur  fired  Fort 
Van  Buren  before  he  built  Fort  Alexander.  But  this  is  a  small 
matter  to  adjust  in  comparison  with  the  difficulty  of  reconciling 
such  conflicting  statements  regarding  Van  Buren  as  I  have  criti- 
cised on  p.  47,  unless  there  were  two  places  of  that  name  at 
different  dates  and  on  widely  separated  sites.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  Bradley  is  at  one  with  Larpenteur  regarding  the  Rosebud 


STORY  OF  THE   GRIZZLY   BEAR.  1 73 

a  man,  a  good  force  was  raised,  and  I,  wishing  to  see 
the  fun,  volunteered  to  go  with  them.  We  soon 
came  to  the  spot,  where  we  saw  Bruin  lying  fast  asleep 
behind  the  remains  of  his  breakfast.  Knowing  that 
Indians  considered  it  braver  to  strike  an  enemy  after 
he  had  been  shot  down,  than  to  shoot  him  down,  I 
was  prepared  to  be  very  brave.  When  we  were  with- 
in 30  steps,  one  of  the  Indians  made  a  little  noise,  at 

site  of  Van  Buren,  because  the  "  old  manuscript  "  above  said  is 
the  one  we  are  now  printing,  Dr.  Matthews  having  loaned  it  to 
him. 

Rosebud  river  falls  into  the  right  side  of  the  Yellowstone  from 
the  S.,  between  stations  Rosebud  and  Albright  of  the  N.  P.  R.  R., 
and  late  U.  S.  General  Land  Office  maps  mark  "  Old  Fort  Alex- 
ander "  here.  Now  this  appears  to  be  an  error;  for  Fort  Van 
Buren  was  the  one  at  the  mouth  of  this  river,  and  Larpenteur 
tells  us  he  built  Fort  Alexander  higher  up,  at  Adams  prairie.  I 
regret  that  my  Lewis  and  Clark  reflects  this  mistake,  saying  that 
Fort  Alexander  was  "  at  or  near  "  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud,  p. 
1 159,  where  read  Fort  Van  Buren.  I  passed  both  these  old  sites 
Sept.  14,  1893,  but  was  thinking  of  something  else  at  the  time, 
and  made  no  observations  upon  them,  in  my  haste  to  inspect 
Clark's  autograph  inscription  on  Pompey's  Pillar. 

Fort  Sarpy,  also  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud,  1850-55,  is  said 
to  have  been  the  last  A.  F.  Co.  post  on  the  Yellowstone.  The 
present  military  establishment  is  Fort  Keogh,  near  Miles  City 
and  the  mouth  of  Tongue  river.  This  was  a  new  and  nameless 
cantonment  in  1877,  whence  Gen.  N.  A.  Miles  made  the  swift  and 
spirited  dash  which  resulted  in  the  final  surrender  of  the  splendid 
Nez  Perc6  chieftain  on  Eagle  creek,  in  the  Bear  Paw  mountains, 
after  he  had  been  chased  by  Gen.  Howard  for  more  than  1300 
miles.     A  modern  Moses,  in  sight  of  the  Promised  Land  ! 


1/4  ARRIVAL  OF  THE  OPPOSITION. 

which  the  bear  awoke  and  rose  up  to  see  who  were 
the  intruders.  A  volley  was  fired;  the  bear  dropped 
dead  behind  his  breastworks,  and  we  all  counted 
coups  upon  his  carcass  with  our  ramrods,  I  among 
the  first. 

Soon  after  that  Mr.  Chouteau  returned  from  St. 
Louis  to  Fort  Union,  having  gone  down  with  Father 
De  Smet,"  who  was  on  his  way  from  the  Columbia  to 
the  States.  His  most  important  news  was  that  a 
strong  Opposition  had  arrived;  the  firm  was  Fox,  Liv- 
ingston and  Co.  of  New  York.  They  had  come  up  in 
a  steamer,  with  a  large  outfit,  and  were  building  a 
Mackinaw  boat  for  the  Crows'  trade  of  the  Yellow- 
stone; so  that  we  should  have  opposition  here.     This 

•  Peter  John  De  Smet,  the  Belgian  Jesuit  priest,  noted  for  his 
extensive  travels  and  missionary  labors  among  the  Indians,  and 
still  more  so  on  account  of  the  several  books  he  wrote  about 
them,  one  of  which  has  already  been  cited  in  another  connection. 
The  mention  of  Father  De  Smet  is  fortunate,  as  it  enables  us  to 
fix  the  date — 1842:  see  Greg.  Missions,  1847,  p.  39,  where  it 
appears  that  in  1842  "  Father  De  Smet  was  bending  his  steps 
back  to  St.  Louis,  to  procure  additional  laborers  for  the  mission." 
The  next  spring,  on  May  i,  1843,  Audubon  overtook  him  on  his 
upward  journey  :  see  Aud.  and  his  Journs.,  i,  1897,  p.  467  : 
"  When  we  reached  Glasgow,  we  came  in  under  the  stem  of 
the  '  John  Auld.'  As  I  saw  several  officers  of  the  United 
States  army  I  bowed  to  them,  and  as  they  all  knew  that  I 
was  bound  towards  the  mighty  Rocky  Mountains,  they  not 
only  returned  my  salutations,  but  came  on  board,  as  well  as 
Father  De  Smet." 


FORT  ALEXANDER  BUILT.  175 

news  I  did  not  relish;  for  opposition  is  necessarily  a 
great  nuisance. 

In  the  meantime  the  work  on  Fort  Alexander  was 
progressing  finely;  my  men  were  good  hands,  deter- 
mined to  put  up  a  well-built  little  fort,  which  was 
very  near  completion  by  the  15th  of  November 
[1842].  I  was  already  in  my  quarters,  very  com- 
fortably located,  thinking  that  I  was  going  to  pass 
a  pleasant  winter  with  my  family.  Like  all  other 
traders  I  had  taken  a  better  half  J  who  had  made  me 
the  father  of  my  first  child  on  the  9th  of  last  August. 
But  all  these  fine  expectations  were  ended  by  the  un- 
expected arrival  of  Mr.  Murray,^  who  had  been 
engaged  to  take  charge  of  Fort  Alexander,  with  let- 
ters from  Mr.  Culbertson  requesting  me  to  return 
immediately  to  Fort  Union,  where  I  was  wanted 
mighty  bad  in  the  liquor  department.  This  was  not 
the  first  time  I  had  found  out  that  being  a  sober  man 
was  no  advantage  to  me. 

I  left  next  day  with  one  man  and  two  horses — one 

'  His  second  wife,  the  first  having  died  at  Fort  Union  in  1837: 
see  note  ',  p.  132  .  Dr.  Matthews  tells  me  that  all  the  children  of 
this  alliance  died  before  their  father — the  last  of  them,  Elizabeth, 
of  consumption,  at  Fort  Buford,  at  10.45  P-  ^•<  Feb.  26, 1871. 

*  The  same  who  has  been  already  incidentally  mentioned,  p. 
162.  I  once  made  the  following  memorandum  from  Palliser,  1853, 
p.  83:  "  Mr.  Murray,  a  Scotchman  in  the  service  of  the  [Ameri- 
can Fur]  Company,  and  in  charge  of  Fort  Alexander  on  the  Yel- 
lowstone," where  Palliser  met  him  in  1847. 


176  RETURN   TO   FORT    UNION. 

to  ride  and  one  to  pack.  As  it  was  cold,  and  snow 
on  the  ground,  I  had  to  leave  my  better  half  behind. 
One  of  our  horses  soon  gave  out,  and  our  trip  of 
eight  days  was  a  tough  one. 

I  should  remark  here  that,  about  two  weeks  before 
I  left  Fort  Alexander,  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of 
Frederick  Groscloud  arrived  in  charge  of  a  Mack- 
inaw boat,  with  a  fine  equipment.  He  had  been  for- 
merly in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Tulloch,  and  understood 
the  Crow  language,  but  was  not  considered  a  person 
of  much  force  of  character. 


CHAPTER  X. 
(1843-44.) 

WINTERING  AT  WOODY  MOUNTAIN. 

About  the  ist  of  December,  1842/  I  made  my  en- 
trance again  in  Fort  Union,  It  was  at  night ;  a  large 
trading  party  were  at  the  highest  pitch  of  drunken- 
ness; boss  and  clerks  not  far  behind  them  in  this  re- 
spect. But  I  did  not  find  it  strange  or  surprising. 
Mr.  Culbertson,  on  seeing  me,  remarked,  "  Well, 
Larpenteur,  I  am  mighty  glad  to  see  you.  We  are 
having  a  hot  time,  and  I'm  tired  of  it.  I  suppose  you 
are  tired,  too,  and  want  to  go  to  sleep."  I  supposed 
that  he,  having  drunk  so  much,  did  not  think  about 
eating,  for  I  had  not  got  that  invitation  as  yet,  so  I 
replied,  "  I'm  not  so  tired  as  I  am  hungry."  "  Well," 
said  he, ''  there's  plenty  to  eat."  I  ran  to  the  kitchen, 
and  the  cook  got  me  up  a  rousing  supper.  I  ate  too 
much,   and  next  morning  found   myself  foundered; 

'  Copy  has  "  1841" — clearly  a  mistake  of  Larpenteur's  memory, 
which  I  correct.  See  adjustment  of  dates  in  notes  to  last 
chapter. 


1/8  ebbitt's  opposition. 

but  I  had  received  orders  to  resume  the  grog  depart- 
ment, and,  notwithstanding  my  stiffness,  went  on  to 
set  things  in  order.     They  needed  it  very  much. 

In  the  course  of  time  ^  I  was  informed  of  the  cause 
of  this  appointment.  A  certain  individual  by  the 
name  of  Ebbitt  had,  a  year  previous,  brought  up  a 
small  equipment  and  made  his  way  as  far  as  the  Sioux 
district.  He  had  a  small  Mackinaw  with  12  men, 
which  was  considered  by  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany too  slight  an  affair  to  oppose;  in  consequence 
of  which  he  made  a  very  profitable  return  of  500 

*  •'  In  the  course  of  time  "  covers  a  considerable  portion  of  1843, 
during  all  of  which  year  Larpenteur  was  at  Fort  Union.  In  tak- 
ing up  his  MS.  I  expected  of  course  to  find  mention  of  Audu- 
bon's visit  to  Union  in  the  summer  of  1843,  with  which  I  had 
familiarized  myself  in  reading  his  Journals,  before  their  publica- 
tion by  Miss  M.  R.  Audubon  (New  York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons, 
Dec. ,  1897).  His  party,  consisting  of  himself,  Edward  Harris,  John 
G,  Bell,  Isaac  Sprag^e,  and  Lewis  Squires,  reached  Fort  Union  on 
the  steamer  Omega,  Capt.  John  A.  Sire,  at  7  p.  m.  of  Monday, 
June  12,  and  left  in  the  Mackinaw  boat  Union  at  noon  of  Wednes- 
day, Aug.  16,  1843.  It  probably  did  not  occur  to  Larpenteur 
that  one  of  these  visitors  was  the  most  distinguished  person  who 
had  ever  come  to  see  him ;  or,  if  he  had  any  such  idea,  it  left  no 
impression  on  his  mind;  for  he  never  mentions  one  of  them  by 
name,  nor  does  he  even  note  their  arrival  or  departure.  On  the 
contrary,  Audubon  repeatedly  speaks  of  Larpenteur:  see  Joums. 
ii,  pp.  41,  65,  68,  73,  77,  81,  124,  126.  183,  at  dates  running  Jime 
19-Aug.  8.  In  a  special  article  on  Fort  Union,  by  Mr.  Edwin  T. 
Denig,  at  date  of  July  30,  1843,  Larpenteur  is  named  as  being 
then  in  charge  of  the  retail  store. 


FOX,   LIVINGSTON  AND  CO.  1 79 

packs  of  robes.  Elated  with  his  success  he  went  to 
New  York  with  his  returns,  and  there  formed  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  great  firm  of  Fox,  Livingston  and 
Co.,^  telling  them  how  cheaply  he  had  traded,  and 
also  remarking  that  the  American  Fur  Company  so 
abused  the  Indians  and  clerks  that  everything  was 
working  against  them — in  fact,  if  a  large  company, 
such  as  would  inspire  confidence  among  whites  and 
Indians,  should  be  organized,  the  American  Fur 
Company  would  soon  leave  the  country.  This  story 
took  well;  such  a  company  was  formed,  and  started 
in  charge  of  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Kelsey,  one 
of  the  members  of  the  new  firm.  Mr.  Kelsey  had  not 
ascended  the  Missouri  very  far  before  he  began  to 
regret  what  he  had  done,  which  was  that  he  had  put 
$20,000  into  the  concern.  The  farther  he  came  up 
river  the  more  he  regretted  it;  and  when  he  arrived 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  and  saw  Fort  Union 
in  its  full  splendor,  he  could  not  refrain  from  re- 
marking to  Mr.  Culbertson,  "  Had  I  known  how  the 
American  Fur  Company  were  situated,  I  would  have 
kept  clear  of  investing  in  this  opposition  " ;  and  con- 
cluded by  saying,  "  I  hope  you  will  not  be  too  hard  on 

^Audubon,  when  approaching  the  Great  Bend,  May  25,  1843, 
speaks  of  meeting  three  Mackinaws  belonging  "  to  the  (so  called) 
Opposition  Company  of  C.  Bolton,  Fox,  Livingstone  &  Co.,  of 
New  York,"  Journ.  i,  1897,  p.  511.  This  was  the  second  year  of 
the  Company,  which  first  came  up  in  1842. 


l8o  MR.   KELSEY — FORT  GEORGE. 

US."  The  old  gentleman  went  off,  leaving  a  man 
named  Cotton  in  charge.  Mr.  Kelsey,  who,  accord- 
ing to  agreement,  was  to  remain  in  the  Indian  coun- 
try and  make  his  headquarters  among  the  Sioux, 
chose  a  point  *  20  miles  below  Fort  Pierre,  opposite 
a  beautiful  island.  Upon  this  there  were  four  men 
living  in  a  small  cabin,  which  he  considered  his.  He 
ordered  them  several  times  to  leave;  but  they  paid  no 
attention  to  him,  and  remained  in  possession.  One 
morning  the  old  gentleman  armed  himself  and  de- 
termined to  make  the  men  leave.     On  entering  the 

♦  Fort  George,  which  was  built  on  the  S.  (right)  side  of  the 
Missouri,  on  a  small  creek  of  the  same  name,  at  the  1156^  mile 
point  of  the  river  by  the  Mo.  R.  Commission  chart  of  1882,  which 
marks  Rousseau's  ranch  on  the  same  creek,  in  the  Lower  Brul6 
Sioux  Reservation,  S.  Dak.  The  site  in  mention  was  3^  m.  below 
the  mouth  of  Little  Medicine  creek,  which  falls  in  on  the  oppo- 
site (left)  side  of  the  Missouri;  this  is  the  Wiyo  Paha  Wakan  or 
East  Medicine  Knoll  river  of  Nicollet,  Warren,  and  Raynolds, 
origfinally  Reuben's  creek  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  ed.  1893,  p.  127  ; 
Rousseau,  P.O.,  Hughes  Co.,  S.  Dak.,  at  its  mouth. 

That  this  is  the  very  spot  Larpenteur  means  is  confirmed  by 
the  narrative  of  Audubon,  who  reached  Fort  George  at  3  p.  m. 
Sunday,  May  28,  1843,  and  says,  Journ.  i,  1897,  p.  519:  "  This  is 
what  is  called  the  '  Station  of  the  Opposition  line;'  some  Indians 
and  a  few  lodges  are  on  the  edge  of  the  prairie.  Sundry  bales  of 
Buffalo  robes  were  brought  on  board,  and  Major  Hamilton,  who 
is  now  acting  Indian  agent  here  until  the  return  of  Major  Crisp 
[PDripps]  came  on  board  also.  .  .  He  pointed  out  to  us  the 
cabin  on  the  opposite  shore,  where  a  partner  of  the  '  Opposition 
line '  shot  at  and  killed  two  white  men  and  wounded  two  others. 


FORCIBLE  EVICTION— FORT   MORTIMER.  l8l 

cabin  he  fired  at  one  of  them,  who  was  in  the  act  of 
taking  a  kettle  ofif  the  fire,  and  who  fell  dead  in  the 
fire.  Another  one,  who  ran  out,  was  also  shot,  and 
fell  dead  over  the  fence.  By  that  time  a  third  man, 
who  was  trying  to  escape  in  double-quick  time,  was 
shot  through  the  shoulder,  of  which  wound  he  came 
near  losing  his  life.  During  the  following  night  the 
old  gentleman  made  his  escape.  I  was  informed  that 
he  went  to  Mexico.  This  was  the  last  of  Mr.  Kelsey. 
Mr.  Cotton,  the  person  left  in  charge  at  Fort  Wil- 
liam, which  he  now  called  Fort  Mortimer,"  had  not  yet 

all  of  whom  were  remarkable  miscreants."  This  is  obviously  the 
same  incident  that  Larpenteur  relates  in  greater  detail.  In  the 
same  connection  Audubon  repeatedly  mentions  a  Mr.  Cutting,  as 
"  a  young  gentleman,"  etc,  Larpenteur's  "  Cotton  "  and  Audu- 
bon's "  Cutting"  are  the  same  person,  though  which  is  the  right 
name  I  do  not  know.  Audubon  says  on  p.  524,  "  Mr.  Cutting  was 
writing  to  his  post  near  Fort  Union  to  expect  us,  and  to  afford 
us  all  possible  assistance."    Compare  also  "  Collins,"  next  note. 

I  may  mention  here  that  alongside  old  Fort  Pierre  (the  first 
one,  3  m.  above  Teton  river),  there  was  once  a  post  called  Fort 
Tecumseh,  which  had  been  abandoned  and  was  in  ruins  in  1833: 
Maximilian,  ed.  of  1843,  p.  155,  where  is  also  named  a  Fort  Teton, 
of  the  French  Fur  Co.,  a  little  above  Teton  river,  abandoned 
when  the  companies  joined  and  old  Fort  Pierre  was  built. 

"  As  I  have  remarked  in  an  earlier  note,  p.  52,  Audubon  has 
much  to  say  of  Fort  Mortimer  as  it  was  in  1843.  Visiting  that 
post  on  June  23,  he  describes  it  as  follows  in  his  Joum.  ii,  p.  53: 
"  We  found  the  place  in  a  most  miserable  condition,  and  about  to 
be  carried  away  by  the  falling  in  of  the  banks  on  account  of  the 
gjreat  rise  of  water  in  the  Yellowstone,  that  has  actually  dammed 


1 82        GREEN  COTTON — CRAZY  BEAR. 

got  dry — he  was  still  green  cotton,  full  of  Mr.  Ebbitt's 
stories  about  the  general  discontentment  of  Indians 
and  whites.  He  soon  commenced  to  try  his  hand  on 
one  of  the  most  important  chiefs  of  the  tribe,  Crazy 
Bear,"  who,  like  many  others,  on  learning  that  a  big 
Opposition  had  arrived,  came  in  with  his  band  to  pay 
them  a  visit.     Mr.  Cotton  invited  him  into  his  room, 

the  Missouri.  The  current  ran  directly  across,  and  the  b^nks  gave 
way  at  such  a  rate  that  the  men  had  been  obliged  already  to  tear 
up  the  front  of  the  fort  and  remove  it  to  the  rear.  To-morrow 
they  are  to  remove  the  houses  themselves,  should  they  stand  the 
coming  night,  which  appeared  to  me  somewhat  dubious."  Again, 
July  I,  p.  70:  "  Mr.  Culbertson  and  I  walked  to  the  Pilot  Knob 
with  a  spy-glass,  to  look  at  the  present  condition  of  Fort  Mor- 
timer. This  afternoon  Squires,  Provost,  and  I  walked  there,  and 
were  kindly  received  as  usual.  We  found  all  the  people  en- 
camped two  hundred  yards  from  the  river,  as  they  had  been 
obliged  to  move  from  the  tumbling  fort  during  the  rain  of  last 
night."  On  July  13  Audubon  went  to  Fort  Mortimer  to  ask  Mr. 
Collins,  a  young  man  from  Hopkinsville,  Ky.,  who  was  then  in 
charge,  to  let  him  have  a  hunter  named  Boucherville  to  go  after 
mountain  sheep,  p.  86.  This  man  Boucherville  was  a  famous 
hunter  and  trapper;  Palliser,  p.  198,  met  him  at  Fort  Berthold  in 
April,  1848,  took  him  into  his  service,  and  has  much  to  say  of 
him  in  his  book,  passim. 

•  Assiniboine  name  Mato  Witko,  in  French  L'Ours  Fou.  This 
chief  was  one  of  the  deputation  which  accompanied  Father  De 
Smet  to  a  great  council  in  1 85 1.  A  letter  from  him  appears  in 
De  Smet's  Western  Missions  and  Missionaries,  New  York,  1859, 
pp.  130-132.  No  doubt  it  reflects  the  savage's  statements  and 
sentiments  fairly  enough,  but  the  language  has  been  fancifully 
dressed  in  translating  it  into  English  for  publication.  Crazy 
Bear  first  met  De  Smet  at  Fort  Union,  in  the  summer  of  1851. 


CRAZY  bear's  performance.  1 83 

made  him  a  great  speech,  dressed  him  up  in  a  splen- 
did military  suit,  such  as  had  never  been  brought  into 
the  country  before,  and  then  laid  a  two-gallon  keg  of 
whiskey  at  his  feet.  Crazy  Bear's  band  was  at  Union, 
waiting  for  his  return;  but,  instead  of  going  directly 
to  them,  he  went  into  Mr.  Culbertson's  private  room, 
not  very  drunk,  took  a  seat,  and  remained  some  time 
without  saying  a  word.  Mr.  Culbertson,  surprised  to 
see  him  so  splendidly  dressed,  and  thinking  that  he 
had  lost  his  chief,  was  also  silent.  Finally  Crazy 
Bear  broke  the  ice  by  saying,  "  I  suppose  you  think 
I  have  left  our  big  house.  No;  I  am  not  a  child.  I 
went  below  to  see  the  chief,  who  treated  me  well.  I 
did  not  ask  him  for  anything.  I  did  not  refuse  his 
presents.  But  these  cannot  make  me  abandon  this 
house,  where  are  buried  the  remains  of  our  fathers, 
whose  tracks  are  yet  fresh  in  all  the  paths  leading  to 
this  place.  No,  I  will  not  abandon  this  house! " 
After  which  he  rose  from  his  seat  and  took  off  his  fine 
fur  hat  and  feathers,  which  he  threw  on  the  floor  with 
all  his  might;  then  unbuckled  his  beautiful  sword, 
with  which  he  did  the  same;  and  kept  on  till  he  had 
stripped  himself  of  all  his  fine  clothes,  without  speak- 
ing a  word.  When  this  performance  was  over  he 
said  to  Mr.  Culbertson,  who  stood  in  great  aston- 
ishment, "  Take  away  all  these  things  and  give  me 
such  as  you  see  fit,  and  don't  think  I  am  a  child  who 


l84  TRADE  PUSHED   EN  DEROUINE. 

can  be  seduced  with  trinkets."  This  Crazy  Bear,  who 
was  not  at  all  crazy,  proved  afterward  to  be  the 
greatest  chief  of  the  Assiniboines. 

Mr.  Cotton,  on  hearing  of  this,  was  so  surprised 
he  could  scarcely  believe  it ;  but  when  Mr.  Culbertson 
showed  him  the  suit,  which  had  been  badly  torn,  he 
was  convinced,  and  began  to  think  that  Mr.  Ebbitt's 
stories  had  been  somewhat  exaggerated.  That  was 
the  way  the  green  cotton  commenced  to  dry.  Still, 
his  trade  was  pushed  to  the  extreme.  He  had 
plenty  of  goods  and  was  very  liberal  with  them. 
Both  sides  then  began  to  send  out  men  to  the  Indian 
camps;  but  as  all  the  most  important  camps  were 
soon  supplied,  I  began  to  think  that  I  might  escape 
that  disagreeable  trade.  Being  always  an  unlucky 
man,  I  was  still  disappointed  in  this. 

One  evening  toward  the  last  of  January  [1844], 
while  I  was  thinking  of  anything  but  that  which  was 
forthcoming,  Mr.  Culbertson  sent  for  me  to  come  to 
his  room.  It  was  extremely  cold  and  a  great  deal  of 
snow  was  on  the  ground.  This,  I  believe,  was  the 
reason  he  did  not  broach  the  subject  at  once,  but 
finally  said,  "  Larpenteur,  I  want  you  to  go  to  Woody 
Mountain,''  to  a  camp  of  Crees  and  Chippewas,  who 

'  Woody  Mountain  recalls  to  mind  my  own  experiences  on  the 
U.  S.  Northern  Boundary  Survey,  season  of  1874,  when,  starting 
from  Fort  Buford,  June  21,  I  was  in  a  few  days  camped  at  Fort 


ORDERED   TO  WOODY   MOUNTAIN.  1 85 

have  plenty  of  robes,  and  have  sent  for  traders  from 
both  companies.  The  Assiniboines  have  also  sent 
for  traders  at  the  meat-pen,  which  is  on  the  same  road 
that  you  are  going.  I  want  you  and  Mr.  Denig  to 
go  into  the  store,  get  up  your  equipment  to-night, 
and  start  in  the  morning."  Such  were  my  orders,  at 
short  notice,  after  thinking  I  was  going  to  remain  at 
the  fort.  I  had  to  make  a  trip  of  at  least  100  miles, 
northward  into  the  British  possessions,  and  this  was 
not  calculated  to  make  me  feel  very  good.  But  Mr. 
Denig  and  I  went  to  work,  and  at  midnight  the 
equipments  were  ready.  Next  morning  with  one  sled 
apiece,  two  mules  and  one  driver  to  each  sled,  we 
started  on  our  journey,  accompanied  by  several  In- 

M.  J.  Tiimay,  on  Frenchman's  river,  near  the  parallel  of  49°  N. 
Woody  Mountain  is  a  long,  irregular  mass  of  drift,  making  a 
series  of  elevations — some  of  them  up  to  3,800  feet — which  strag- 
gle E.  and  W.,  mainly  between  long.  106°  and  107"  W.,  10  to  20 
or  more  miles  N.  of  the  British  boundary.  From  their  N.  slopes 
the  drainage  is  by  Woody  Mountain  river  in  the  watershed 
of  the  South  Saskatchewan ;  on  our  side  these  elevations  give  rise 
to  both  the  main  branches  of  Poplar  river,  tributary  to  the  Mis- 
souri below  the  mouth  of  Milk  river,  and  to  the  heads  of  Little 
Rocky  creek,  which  falls  into  Milk  river  next  below  the  mouth  of 
Frenchman's  river.  On  the  British  side.  Woody  Mountain  post 
occupies  tp.  4  of  range  iii.  W.  of  the  3d  init.  merid.,  in  Assini- 
boia;  the  cattle  quarantine  is  on  the  line  of  49°,  among  the  heads 
of  Little  Rocky  creek,  occupying  tps.  i  of  ranges  v.  and  vi.  A 
cart  trail  from  the  Red  River  of  the  North  reaches  Woody 
Mountain  settlement,  continuing  thence  to  Fort  Tumay,  and  so 
on  to  Fort  Peck,  on  the  Missouri  above  the  mouth  of  Milk  river. 


1 86  START  FOR  WOODY   MOUNTAIN. 

dians,  among  whom  was  one  called  Wounded  Leg, 
chief  of  the  band  of  the  Rocks,  whose  camp  was  at 
the  sand  hills,  about  60  miles  on  our  road  from  the 
fort  to  Woody  Mountain. 

At  our  first  camp  my  interpreter,  a  half-breed 
named  Andrew,  was  taken  sick;  he  complained  of 
headache,  and  in  the  morning  he  was  so  ill  that  I 
had  to  let  him  go  back  to  the  fort.  I  understood 
some  little  Cree,  and,  as  many  of  them  spoke  Assini- 
boine,  I  thought  I  could  do  without  him.  Next  day 
we  reached  Wounded  Leg's  camp,  and  took  a  night's 
lodging  with  him.  My  friend  Denig  had  been  for  the 
past  few  days  in  such  a  state  that  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  freeze — he  was  too  full  of  alcohol.  He 
had  not  walked  one  step ;  this  disgusted  the  chief,  who 
proved  an  enemy  afterward.  The  morning  was  so 
stormy  that  we  would  not  have  left  camp  had  we  not 
learned  that  the  Opposition  had  gone  by  with  dog- 
sleds.  Not  wishing  to  be  outdone  by  them,  I  awoke 
Mr.  Denig,  who  was  still  under  the  influence  of 
liquor,  and  told  him  that  we  must  be  off — that  the 
Opposition  had  gone  by,  and  that  if  they  could  travel 
I  did  not  see  why  we  should  not.  When  the  chief 
saw  that  I  was  determined  to  leave,  he  remarked  that 
it  would  be  well  for  us  to  go ;  that  a  certain  Indian  was 
expected  from  the  fort  with  a  large  keg  of  whiskey, 
and  that  it  would  not  be  well  for  us  to  remain  in  camp 


JOURNEY  TO   WOODY   MOUNTAIN.  1 87 

while  they  were  drunk;  for,  as  he  knew,  we  had  to 
leave  Mr.  Denig  behind.  The  mules  were  soon 
harnessed  up,  and  into  the  hard  storm  we  started, 
with  but  one  Indian,  who  was  my  guide.  It  was  an 
awful  day;  we  could  see  no  distance  in  any  direction, 
floundered  in  deep  snowdrifts,  and  knew  not  where 
to  go  for  timber.  But  our  guide  was  a  good  one, 
who  brought  us  to  a  small  cluster  of  scrubby  elms. 
The  snow  had  drifted  so  deep  that  we  could  find  no 
dry  wood  and  had  to  go  to  bed  without  a  fire.  We 
made  ourselves  as  comfortable  as  we  could  by  dig- 
ging holes  in  the  snow  for  shelter.  We  were  then 
only  a  little  distance  from  the  meat-pen,  where  Mr. 
Denig  was  to  stop,  and  reached  it  early  next  day. 
Mr.  Denig  wanted  me  to  remain  with  him  over  night, 
but  as  he  had  to  make  a  liquor  trade,  and  I  did  not 
wish  to  be  serenaded,  I  declined  his  kind  offer.  Hav- 
ing packed  the  contents  of  my  sled  on  my  two  mules, 
and  left  the  sled,  which  I  found  to  be  a  nuisance,  I 
proceeded  on  my  journey  to  Woody  Mountain. 
After  this  snowstorm  the  wind  changed  to  a  strong, 
extremely  cold  northwester.  There  were  only  three 
of  us — myself;  my  guide,  a  young  Chippewa;  and  my 
driver,  a  young  Canadian  named  Piche,  which  means 
pitcher.®     As  my  poor  Pitcher  contained  more  water 

*  Larpenteur    seems    to    be  punning,   and    perhaps    intends 
another  play  on  the  words  "mettle"  and  "  metal."    The   tru 


l88  JOURNEY  TO  WOODY   MOUNTAIN. 

than  whiskey,  I  was  much  afraid  he  would  freeze  and 
crack;  but  he  was  made  of  good  metal,  that  could  stand 
heat  or  cold.  Early  this  evening  we  came  to  a  good 
camping  place,  with  plenty  of  dry  firewood;  but  it 
was  so  intensely  cold,  and  we  had  to  dig  so  deep  in 
the  snow  to  make  a  fireplace,  that  it  was  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  we  could  start  a  fire.  But  we  suc- 
ceeded at  last  in  making  a  comfortable  camp — the 
best  one  we  had  had  since  we  left  the  fort.  A  little 
while  after  this  we  were  sitting  at  a  good  supper  of 
dried  buffalo  meat,  a  few  hard-tacks  we  had  saved, 
and  a  strong  cup  of  coflfee.  After  supper  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  sleeping,  as  a  bedroom  had 
yet  to  be  cleared  out,  in  a  deep  snowdrift,  where  my 
friend  Pitcher  was  to  be  my  bedfellow.  We  pro- 
ceeded to  excavate,  and  soon  had  ourselves  buried 
alive  in  the  snow.  I  believe  this  was  the  coldest  night 
I  ever  felt.  The  guide  got  up  first,  to  make  a  fire,  to 
the  delight  of  Pitcher  and  myself.  A  breakfast  much 
like  our  supper  was  soon  ready,  the  mules  were 
packed,  and  we  were  oflf  again.  We  had  not  traveled 
more  than  an  hour  when  the  wind  rose,  and  the  snow 
began  to  drift,  so  blinding  us  that  we  could  scarcely 
see.  We  had  over  lo  miles  to  travel  to  timber;  but, 
fortunately,  we  were  on  the  main  road,  which  the  In- 

name  may  have  been  Pichou  or  Picheau  :  for  this  word,  see  my 
Henry  Joum.,  1897,  p.  1018. 


APPROACH  TO  THE  CREE  CAMP.  1 89 

dians  had  made  so  hard,  in  going  from  one  camp  to 
another,  that  the  drifting  snow  could  not  lodge  on  it; 
so  the  tracks  remained  visible,  which  enabled  us  to 
reach  camp  in  good  time.  At  sunset  the  wind  fell, 
and  we  had  an  easy  time  in  making  preparations  for 
our  last  night  out.  There  being  no  road  between 
this  place  and  the  Indian  camp,  which  was  20  miles 
off,  over  level  prairie,  and  wishing  to  reach  the  camp 
in  good  time,  we  made  an  early  start  next  morning. 
The  day  was  clear,  cold,  and  calm.  In  my  small 
outfit  I  had  about  five  gallons  of  alcohol,  in  two  kegs 
of  three  and  two  gallons,  neatly  packed  in  the  bales 
of  goods.  I  thought  this  quantity  would  be  too  much 
to  bring  in  camp  at  once  and  concluded  to  cache  one 
of  the  kegs  on  the  road,  for  I  knew  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  keep  it  concealed  in  the  Indian  lodge.  In 
order  to  do  this  my  guide  must  be  dispatched  ahead, 
for  I  did  not  think  he  could  be  trusted.  So,  when  we 
got  within  about  five  miles  of  the  camp,  I  remarked 
to  him  that  I  wished  him  to  go  on  into  camp  and  tell 
Broken  Arm,®  the  chief  of  the  Crees,  that  I  wished  him 
to  prepare  me  a  large  lodge  and  make  ready  for  a  big 
spree  to-night.     To  this  proposition  the  guide  readily 

*  One  of  this  name  appears  in  Boiler,  p.  121,  but  he  is  given  as 
an  Assiniboine,  not  Cree.  "  A  party  of  thirty  Assinniboines 
arrived  to  visit  the  Gros  Ventres.  The  new-comers  have  been 
sent  from  a  camp  known  as  '  the  band  of  Canoes,'  by  the  chief, 
'  Broken  Arm,'  "  etc. 


IQO  NORTH  OF  NORTH  HERE. 

consented,  and,  having  pointed  out  the  direction  of 
the  camp,  he  left  on  a  dog-trot.  As  soon  as  he 
was  out  of  sight  and  we  had  reached  a  place  that  my 
friend  Pitcher  would  be  sure  to  find  again,  we  cached 
the  smaller  keg  in  a  snowbank  and  resumed  our 
journey. 

We  had  made  but  a  few  miles  when  we  came  in 
sight  of  Indians;  but,  as  we  could  see  no  lodges,  we 
presumed  they  were  Indians  returning  from  a  hunt. 
We  soon  discovered  men,  women,  and  children;  still 
no  camp,  and  the  prairie  looking  level  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach.  We  could  not  imagine  what  this 
meant,  and  were  not  relieved  of  our  uneasiness  till 
some  of  the  bucks  came  running  up  and  told  us  that 
there  was  the  camp,  pointing  to  a  deep  valley.  Hav- 
ing gone  about  half  a  mile  we  came  to  a  precipice,  on 
the  north  of  which  the  Indians  were  camped,  near  the 
bottom.  It  was  an  awful  place;  I  could  not  imagine 
how  they  could  stand  such  a  place  without  freezing, 
for  the  sun  did  not  reach  them  more  than  two  hours 
out  of  the  twenty-four.  "  Now,"  said  I,  to  my  friend 
Pitcher,  "  we  are  north  of  north  here."  "  Yes,  sir," 
said  he,  "  and  we'll  freeze.     I  can't  see  what  made 

them  d d  Indians  camp  here."     For  the  first  time 

my  good  Pitcher  was  overflowing  with  bad  humor, 
and  ifideed  I  did  not  blame  him,  for  the  prospect  of 
staying  in  such  a  hole  was  anything  but  encouraging. 


READY  FOR  OPERATIONS.  I9I 

But  there  was  no  alternative;  we  had  to  enter  the 
lodge — a  large  double  one — which  we  found  already 
prepared  for  our  reception.  After  our  mules  were 
unpacked  and  our  baggage  was  arranged,  a  kettle  of 
boiled  buflfalo  tongues  was  brought  in;  a  strong  cup 
of  cofifee  was  made  from  our  own  stores,  and  we  took 
supper  alongside  a  good  fire,  after  which  symptoms 
of  good  humor  returned. 

Being  now  ready  for  operations,  I  sent  for  water, 
telling  the  Indians  it  was  to  make  fire-water,  and  it 
was  not  long  in  forthcoming;  the  news  circulated 
through  the  camp,  and  before  I  was  prepared  to  trade 
the  lodge  was  full  of  Indians,  loaded  with  robes,  ready 
for  the  spree.  The  liquor  trade  commenced  with  a 
rush,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  whole  camp  was 
in  a  fearful  uproar;  but  they  were  good  Indians,  and 
there  was  no  more  trouble  than  is  usual  on  such  oc- 
casions. This  was  the  first  time  that  I  ever  felt  snow- 
blind  ;  during  the  spree,  which  lasted  the  whole  night, 
I  complained  considerably  of  sore  eyes,  attributing  it 
to  the  smoky  lodge.  They  told  me  the  lodge  did  not 
smoke,  except  at  the  place  where  it  ought  to,  and 
said  I  must  be  getting  snow-blind.  This  I  found  to 
be  the  case,  and,  though  I  was  soon  over  it,  it  was 
bad  enough  to  be  extremely  painful.  By  morning  I 
had  traded  150  fine  robes,  about  all  there  were 
dressed  in  the  camp,  and  during  the  day  I  traded  30 


192  BLIZZARDS. 

more  for  goods.  I  then  feared  no  opposition,  as  their 
robes  were  nearly  all  traded — that  is,  the  dressed  ones. 
We  had  plenty  of  leisure  after  that,  but  tremendously 
cold  weather.  It  frequently  happens  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  that,  after  a  clear,  calm  morning,  a  cloud 
rises  in  the  northwest  about  ten  o'clock,  and  in  a  very 
short  time  a  tremendous  snowdrift  ^**  comes  on,  which 
lasts  all  day;  but  the  weather  generally  becomes  calm 
at  sunset,  turning  very  clear  and  cold.  Such  weather 
we  were  blessed  with  most  of  the  time  we  remained 
there,  which  was  about  six  weeks.  Imagine  the 
pleasant  time  we  spent  in  camp  under  that  steep 
hill,  where  I  am  certain  the  sun  did  not  shine  more 
than  24  hours  altogether  during  those  six  weeks. 

'"  It  will  be  observed  that  Larpenteur  does  not  use  the  word 
"  blizzard  "  for  what  he  describes;  but  that  is  what  he  means. 
The  word  is  recent;  Dr.  Matthews  tells  me  he  did  not  hear  it 
applied  to  a  storm  until  after  he  left  Dakota,  where  he  resided  in 
1865-72;  but  if  I  remember  rightly,  it  was  in  common  use  when  I 
was  Post  Surgeon  at  Fort  Randall,  S.  Dak.,  1872-73.  In  Boiler's 
Among  the  Indians,  written  of  1858-66,  a  Dakota  blizzard  is 
called  "  pouderie  "and  "  pouderie."  Either  of  these  forms  is  pretty 
bad  French,  but  the  root  of  the  word  is  poudre,  powder,  and 
perhaps  it  is  a  corruption  oi poudrerte ,  powder-mill — the  force  of 
which  will  be  appreciated  by  anyone  who  has  had  a  blizzard 
burst  upon  him.  The  best  explanation  of  the  word  "  blizzard  " 
will  be  found  in  the  Century  Diet.  It  seems  to  have  first  meant 
a  rattling  volley  or  discharge  of  fire-arms,  then  something  likened 
to  such,  as  a  howling  spree,  and  finally  fixed  itself  as  the  name  of  a 
furious  snowstorm.    The  word  has  no  etymological  history. 


MULES  FROZEN  TO  DEATH.  I93 

The  third  day  after  we  arrived  I  rent  my  Pitcher 
to  see  how  the  mules  were  getting  along;  the  Indi- 
ans had  them  in  their  charge,  but  I  wanted  to  know 
their  actual  condition  from  a  surer  source  during  such 
intensely  cold  weather.  The  Pitcher  was  so  be- 
numbed that  he  was  unable  to  tell  the  news  on  his 
return  until  he  had  warmed  his  mouth,  which  ap- 
peared so  stiff  with  cold  that  he  could  not  move  his 
jaws;  but  I  could  see  in  his  countenance  that  some- 
thing was  wrong.  Being  anxious  to  learn  what  the 
matter  was,  and  giving  him  scarcely  time  to  thaw 
out,  I  said,  "  Well,  Pitcher,  how  are  the  mules? " 
"  Ha!  the  mules  both  froze  dead — one  standing  up, 
the  other  down.  My  good  fat  white  mule  standing 
up — thought  she  alive,  but  she  standing  stiflf  dead." 
By  this  time  his  jaws  had  got  limber,  and  he  made 
them  move  at  a  great  rate,  with  some  mighty  rude 
expressions  in  regard  to  the  place  where  we  were. 
When  well  warmed  up  he  began  to  crack  a  smile 
again,  and  all  went  well  until  a  couple  of  days  after- 
ward, when  I  found  him  so  much  out  of  humor  one 
morning  that  I  thought  surely  my  poor  Pitcher  must 
be  broken,  or  at  least  badly  cracked.  When  break- 
fast was  served  by  the  wife  of  Mr.  Broken  Arm,  the 
great  chief  of  the  Crees,  who  had  been  to  Washing- 
ton, Pitcher  would  not  partake.  "  What  is  the  mat- 
ter, Pitcher,"  said  I,  "  are  you  sick?     Why  not  have 


194  EPICUREANISM. 

some  of  this  good  fat  buffalo  meat?  "  "  Not  much 
the  matter,"  he  replied;  "  I  will  tell  after  a  while  " — 
fearing  perhaps  that  the  story  he  had  to  tell  would  not 
agree  with  my  digestive  organs.  Some  time  after 
that,  when  the  things  were  removed,  dishes  washed 
up,  and  the  cook  had  gone  out,  my  Pitcher  poured 
out  his  story.  "  Mr.  Larpenteur,"  he  said,  "  if  you 
please,  after  this  I  will  do  our  cooking."  "  Why  so," 
said  I.  "  Why,  sir,  because  that  enfant  de  garce — 
that  old  squaw  is  too  dirty.  Sacre!  She  scrape  the 
cloths  of  that  baby  of  hers  with  her  knife,  give  it  a 
wipe,  cut  up  the  meat  with  it,  and  throw  into  the 
kettle.  This  morning  I  see  same  old  crust  on  the 
knife — that  what  the  matter — too  much  for  me." 
After  this  explanation  I  was  no  longer  surprised  at 
poor  Pitcher's  looking  so  broken;  and  if  my  digestive 
powers  had  not  been  strong,  as  they  have  always 
proven  to  be,  I  am  afraid  my  own  breakfast  would 
have  returned  the  way  it  went;  but  with  me,  when- 
ever the  meat-trap  was  once  shut  down  it  was  not 
easily  opened  again,  and  things  had  to  take  their  natu- 
ral course. 

Shortly  after  the  death  of  our  two  mules,  I  traded 
a  pony  of  an  Indian,  and  Pitcher  would  now  and 
then  go  to  see  how  the  animal  stood  this  latitude. 
Then  the  time  came  when  I  thought  the  Indians 
might  have  robes  enough  dressed  to  raise  a  frolic; 


THE  TALE  ADORNED   WITH  A  MORAL.  1 95 

SO  one  morning  I  sent  for  the  keg  of  alcohol 
^I  had  cached  on  the  road.  Not  wishing  the  Indians 
to  know  what  we  were  about,  on  their  asking  where 
my  man  was  going,  I  told  them  he  was  going  to  look 
after  my  pony.  He  delayed  longer  than  they  thought 
necessary,  and  they  remarked  it;  but  finally  he  ap- 
peared in  the  lodge  with  the  keg  on  his  b«ick — that 
being  the  kind  of  a  pony  he  had  gone  to  take  care  of. 
I  was  soon  prepared  for  operations,  and  another  glori- 
ous drunk  took  place;  but  the  robe  trade  was  light, 
only  50  in  number.  This  ended  the  business,  there 
being  no  Hquor  and  hardly  any  robes  left  in  camp.^^ 

"No  narrative  of  fur  trading  ^«  derouine  needs  moralizing, 
to  adorn  the  tale  of  such  an  atrocious  affair.  But  it  may  be 
observed  that  this  story  shows  up  the  seamy  side  of  the  business 
to  perfection.  That  old  transaction  we  read  of,  in  which  a  birth- 
right was  exchanged  for  a  mess  of  pottage,  was  not  a  worse 
bargain  than  these  Crees  made  with  their  trader.  The  weather 
was  such  that  a  mule  froze  stiff,  standing  up;  buffalo  robes  were 
the  main  protection  of  the  Indians  from  the  killing  cold.  Out  of 
210  robes  which  Larpenteur  says  he  traded,  180  were  secured  for 
5  gallons  of  alcohol,  on  which  the  camp  got  drunk  twice  ;  the 
other  30  were  obtained  for  ' '  goods  " — some  flimsy  cloth  and  such 
trinkets  as  beads,  hawk-bells,  red  paint,  and  hand  looking-glasses. 
"  This  ended  the  business,"  as  he  says,  "  there  being  no  liquor 
and  hardly  any  robes  left  in  camp."  The  per  cent,  of  profit  to 
the  trader  in  this  transaction  is  unsaid — I  suppose  it  to  have  been 
several  thousand,  as  five-sixths  or  more  of  the  poisonous  liquor 
the  Indians  drank  was  water — for  which  that  proportion  of  robes 
was  exchanged,  under  circumstances  which  would  seem  to  have 
made  a  single  robe  a  more  tangible  if  not  a  more  valuable  com- 


196  SUFFERING   FROM   COLD. 

I  then  sent  the  Indian  to  Fort  Union  with  a  letter 
for  Mr.  Culbertson,  requesting  from  him  the  means  to 
bring  back  the  robes  I  had  traded.  Notwithstand- 
ing continued  severely  cold  weather,  ten  days  after- 
ward a  party  of  eight  men  and  20  horses  arrived  in 
camp,  in  charge  of  the  hunter  of  the  fort,  Antoine  Le 
Brun.  Those  men  had  suffered  so  much  with  the 
cold  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  recognize  them 
— noses,  cheeks,  and  eyes  all  scabby  from  frost-bite, 
and  so  dark  from  exposure  that  they  looked  more 
like  Indians  than  white  men.  Mr.  Culbertson's  let- 
ter was  anything  but  satisfactory,  its  contents  being 
about  as  follows:  "  Larpenteur,  I  send  you  20  horses, 
thinking  them  sufficient  to  bring  in  your  trade;  if  not, 
try  to  get  some  good  Indians  to  help  you ;  tell  them  I 
will  pay  them  well.  From  what  I  can  learn  some 
Indians,  who  are  moving  north  on  your  route,  have 

modity  than  any  sort  of  a  birthright.  I  am  here  reminded  of  a 
striking  passage  in  Bancroft,  Works,  xxxi,  1890,  p.  276:  "Whiskey, 
as  applied  to  the  noble  savage,  is  a  wonderful  civilizer.  A  few 
years  of  it  reduces  him  to  a  subjection  more  complete  than  arms, 
and  accomplishes  in  him  a  humility  which  religion  can  never 
achieve.  Some  things  some  men  will  do  for  Christ,  for  country, 
for  wife  and,  children  ;  there  is  nothing  an  Indian  will  not  do  for 
whiskey."  Turn  it  as  we  may,  three  things,  which  have  done 
most  to  make  the  Indian  what  he  is  to-day,  are  not  the  state,  the 
church,  and  the  army — they  are  alcohol,  syphilis,  and  smallpox. 
Tnily,  "  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way.  His  wonders  to  per- 
form." 


ON  THE   RETURN.  I97 

said  they  will  steal  all  your  horses;  therefore  I  advise 
you  to  take  a  different  route." 

Now,  what  to  do?  The  snow  was  drifted  so  deep 
in  all  the  hollows  that  I  could  not  possibly  take  any 
road  but  the  old  beaten  one.  To  go  any  other  way 
would  be  at  the  risk  of  freezing  to  death — or  at  least 
of  losing  all  my  animals  in  the  snow;  I  preferred  to 
take  the  chances  of  being  robbed  and  perhaps  beaten 
on  the  old  road. 

Next  morning  by  ten  o'clock  we  were  under  way, 
with  all  my  trade.  I  had  some  few  goods  remaining, 
which  I  carefully  concealed  between  the  packs  of 
robes,  so  that  they  could  not  be  seen  by  the  Indians 
whom  we  expected  to  meet ;  and  I  kept  a  few  trinkets 
in  sight,  to  make  some  small  presents,  should  it  be 
necessary.  With  much  difficulty  we  made  out  to  ex- 
tricate ourselves  from  the  awful  abyss  into  which  we 
had  plunged  when  we  came  to  this  camp.  The  morn- 
ing was  clear,  but  extremely  cold,  and  as  we  reached 
the  level  prairie  we  perceived  the  usual  cloud,  indicat- 
ing a  snowdrift.  Not  long  afterward  it  came  on,  so 
bad  that  we  had  great  trouble  to  keep  our  horses  in  the 
track.  As  the  old  saying  is,  "  There  is  no  bad  wind 
but  what  will  bring  some  good."  This  wind  was  one 
of  them.  We  should  have  reached  our  camping  place 
in  good  time,  had  it  not  been  for  this  heavy  snow- 
drift.    A  little  before  dark,  when  we  came  to  camp, 


198  SURPRISED  BY   INDIANS. 

we  were  surprised  by  the  barking  of  Indian  dogs, 
which  appeared  to  be  not  far  off.  The  country  was 
here  very  broken,  and  wooded  with  small  oaks.  We 
concluded  that  this  was  the  camp  of  the  very  Indians 
who  intended  to  rob  us.  Owmg  to  the  heavy  snow- 
drift, which  had  lasted  all  day,  they  had  not  discovered 
us,  and  we  arrived  unknown  to  them.  Finding  our- 
selves undiscovered,  I  told  the  men  to  make  no  noise, 
build  no  fires,  and  early  in  the  morning  to  go  for  the 
horses,  as  I  wanted  to  be  off  by  the  peep  of  day. 
Some  were  reluctant  to  obey  orders,  but  consented 
to  do  so  on  my  telling  them  they  did  not  know  what 
might  happen.  Sleeping  without  any  fire,  in  such 
cold  weather,  was  certainly  a  hardship,  but  I  thought 
it  necessary  for  our  safety.  Supper  was  made  on  a 
little  dried  buffalo  meat — about  all  we  had.  After  a 
long,  sleepless  night,  at  break  of  day  the  horses  were 
all  brought  up  to  pack,  and  at  clear  day  we  were  un- 
der march.  On  the  first  hill  we  ascended  we  per- 
ceived an  Indian  with  his  hand  on  his  mouth,  which 
is  a  sign  of  surprise.  He  called  out,  "  Ho!  ho!  have 
you  traveled  all  night?  "  I  answered,  "  No,  we  camped 
at  the  spring."  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  did  you  not  come 
to  our  camp?  You  would  have  been  well  off  with  us 
— we  have  meat,  sugar,  and  coffee."  I  told  him  that 
if  I  had  known  the  camp  was  so  near,  I  certainly 
would  have  gone  there.     All  this  time  my  men  were 


TRADE    DECLINED.  I99 

filing  by,  and  as  each  one  passed  me  I  told  him  to 
hurry  up;  that  I  would  remain  behind  with  my  pack- 
horse,  and  get  out  of  the  scrape  the  best  I  could.  The 
news  soon  reached  the  Indian  camp,  and  in  a  little 
while  I  was  surrounded.  Their  main  object  was  to 
trade  horses,  and  they  wanted  me  to  stop  my  men. 
I  told  them  the  men  would  not  stop;  they  were  cold, 
and  had  gone  too  far  off.  "  Well,"  said  they,  "  we 
have  got  a  few  robes  we  would  like  to  trade."  I 
found  from  their  actions,  after  my  poor  excuse 
for  declining  the  horse  trade,  that  they  were 
not  so  badly  disposed  as  Mr.  Culbertson  had  repre- 
sented them  to  be;  yet,  if  they  had  got  the  chance 
at  night,  I  believe  they  would  have  relieved  me  of 
some  of  the  horses,  if  not  the  whole  band.  They 
brought  a  few  robes,  which  I  traded ;  and  not  wishing 
my  men  to  get  too  far  off,  I  made  the  Indians  a  pres- 
ent of  what  little  stuff  I  had  left.  When  they  found  I 
was  so  generous  they  let  me  go  in  peace,  with  my 
good  Pitcher,  whom  I  had  kept  by  me. 

With  much  relieved  hearts  we  started  double-quick, 
and  soon  overtook  the  party.  We  found  them  de- 
lighted at  our  good  success,  and  glad  they  had  fol- 
lowed my  advice,  saying,  "  If  we  had  been  discovered, 
we  should  not  have  one  horse  left,  and  God  knows 
what  would  become  of  us."  One  said,  "  Did  you  see 
that  big  painted  rascal,  how  he  look?     Bet  you  he'd 


200  HE   WHO    FEARS   HIS   WAR   CLUB. 

have  mounted  one  of  them  ";  and,  after  several  such 
expressions,  it  was  agreed  among  them  that  I  was  a 
first-rate  leader. 

The  day  became  pleasant,  we  traveled  well,  and 
came  to  camp  at  the  meat  pen,  where  we  fell  in  with 
two  Indian  lodges.  One  of  these  was  that  of  He 
Who  Fears  his  War  Club,  a  respectable  and  brave 
man,  who  I  knew  could  be  relied  on.  After  we  had 
gotten  everything  righted  in  camp,  the  old  fellow 
told  me  to  come  to  his  lodge,  that  he  had  something 
to  tell  me.  As  we  had  little  to  eat  in  camp  I  was  in 
hopes  that  I  would  get  a  supper  out  of  him,  and  per- 
haps something  for  my  men  to  eat;  but  I  was  disap- 
pointed in  that,  for  he  was  as  bad  oflf  as  we  were.  On 
entering  he  bade  me  sit  down;  and  having  smoked  a 
few  whifTs,  he  asked  me  if  I  had  heard  the  latest  news 
from  the  fort.  I  told  him  I  had  learned  none  since 
the  news  brought  to  me  by  my  men.  "  Well,''  said 
he,  "  something  very  bad  has  taken  place  since,  and, 
if  I  were  in  your  place,  I  would  not  go  to  Wounded 
Leg's  camp;  for  he  has  had  a  quarrel  with  Long 
Knife  (meaning  Mr.  Denig)  and  your  chief  (meaning 
Mr.  Culbertson).  They  took  him  by  the  arms  and 
legs  and  threw  him  out  of  the  fort,  and  he  has  sworn 
vengeance  against  the  whites.  It  will  not  be  good 
for  you  to  go  to  his  camp,  or  even  in  sight  of  it,  for  I 
tell  you  he  is  very  mad." 


SUPPOSED   HORSE  THIEVES.  20I 

This  news  struck  me  pretty  hard.  I  had  got  out  of 
one  scrape,  but  was  already  in  another;  this  was 
something  else  for  me  to  cipher  on  that  night,  and  if 
my  stomach  was  empty  my  head  was  full.  On  my  re- 
turn to  camp  I  was  asked  what  the  old  fellow  had 
said;  the  men  suspected  that  all  was  not  quite  right, 
so  I  told  them  the  whole  story.  "  Now  we  are  in  a 
pretty  fix  again,"  said  one.  "  Yes,"  said  another, 
"  they  get  drunk  with  the  Indians  and  fight,  but  don't 
think  much  of  us  poor  fellows  on  the  prairie,"  and  all 
such  expressions.     One  said,  "  Don't  go  that  way  " ; 

and  another  replied,  "  You  d d  old  fool,  what 

other  way  can  we  go  in  this  deep  snow?  "  Finding 
them  disconcerted,  I  said,  "  Don't  be  uneasy,  boys; 
I'll  figure  out  a  plan  to  get  through." 

Meanwhile  two  strapping  big  bucks  made  their  ap- 
pearance in  camp,  and,  of  course,  they  were  supposed 
to  be  horse  thieves ;  but  their  story  was  that  they  were 
going  to  the  fort,  expecting  to  join  a  war  party. 
Notwithstanding  this,  a  guard  was  placed  over  them 
and  I  took  care  that  they  should  have  a  good  bed  in 
camp,  where  they  could  be  easily  watched.  Early  in 
the  morning  all  hands  were  roused  up;  our  thieves 
were  all  right,  but  one  of  the  old  chief's  little  boys, 
about  fourteen,  had  got  up  still  earlier  and  mounted 
one  of  our  best  horses.  He  was  seen  in  the  act,  but 
could  not  be  overtaken.     His  father,  a  good  man, 


202  TO   WOUNDED   LEG'S   CAMP. 

was  very  sorry,  and  said  that  the  horse  would  not  be 
lost  to  the  Company.  The  theft,  at  this  time,  was  of 
great  importance,  as  all  our  horses  were  getting  very 
poor  and  weak. 

From  this  place  to  Wounded  Leg's  camp  was  a 
good  level  road,  about  25  miles,  which  we  expected 
to  make  early.  Now  that  all  was  ready  for  the  move, 
the  boys  expressed  a  desire  to  know  what  plan  I  had 
to  get  them  through  safe.  I  said  to  them,  "  This  is 
my  plan:  I  am  going  on  this  road  right  straight  to 
Wounded  Leg's  lodge.  I  know  him  well;  he  is  a 
good  friend  of  mine,  and  I  am  sure  I  can  fetch  him  all 
right.  When  we  come  in  sight  of  the  camp  I  will 
go  ahead  alone.  You  can  come  on  slowly;  if  any- 
thing happens  to  me,  do  the  best  you  can  for  your- 
selves; but  if  things  are  all  right,  I  will  make  you 
signs  to  come  in."  They  were  apparently  satisfied, 
placing  confidence  in  me,  and  so  we  started;  but, 
moving  at  too  fast  a  gait,  we  were  obliged  to  leave 
two  horses,  which  had  given  out.  This  made  three 
loads  which  had  been  divided  on  the  others;  it  was 
very  hard  on  them,  and  we  commenced  to  think  we 
should  be  forced  to  leave  some  of  our  robes  on  the 
way  also. 

About  three  in  the  afternoon  the  dreaded  camp  was 
in  sight.  I  caused  all  hands  to  halt,  and  told  them, 
"  Now,  boys,  I  am  going  to  the  camp.     When  you 


COLLOQUY   WITH   WOUNDED   LEG.  203 

get  within  400  or  500  yards  of  it,  stop.  If  you  see 
Indians  coming,  not  out  of  a  walk,  remain  until  they 
reach  you;  but  if  they  come  rushing,  make  up  your 
minds  that  Larpenteur  is  gone  up,  and  defend  your- 
selves the  best  you  can."  Off  I  started.  When  I 
came  into  camp  I  inquired  for  Wounded  Leg's  lodge, 
which  was  immediately  shown  to  me.  On  entering 
I  found  his  old  woman  alone.  She  felt  somewhat  sur- 
prised, but  looked  cheerful,  and  we  shook  hands.  She 
had  always  been  a  good  friend  of  mine,  and  I  thought 
myself  pretty  safe  as  far  as  she  was  concerned.  I 
asked  her  where  her  old  man  was.  She  said  he  had 
gone  to  the  lodge  of  such  a  one.  I  then  requested 
her  to  send  for  him,  which  she  did,  and  a  few  minutes 
afterward  he  made  his  appearance.  His  countenance 
was  not  calculated  to  inspire  confidence.  Having 
shaken  hands,  he  sat  down  and  prepared  to  smoke, 
as  is  customary  before  conversing.  I  had  to  hold  my 
tongue,  but  my  eyes  were  wide  open,  watching  the 
face  of  my  enemy  while  he  was  making  ready  for  the 
smoke.  To  my  great  satisfaction  I  thought  I  could 
perceive  a  change  in  my  favor.  The  pipe  being  ready 
a  few  whiffs  were  exchanged,  and  time  to  break 
silence  came.  Upon  which  I  commenced,  saying, 
"  Comrade,  I  have  heard  some  very  bad  talk  about 
you.  I  was  told  not  to  come  to  your  lodge,  or  to 
your  camp;  that  you  intended  to  harm  me  and  my 


204  SUCCESSFUL  DIPLOMACY. 

men.  Knowing  you  to  be  a  good  friend  of  mine,  I 
would  not  mind  that  talk,  and  you  see  I  have 
come  straight  to  your  lodge."  His  first  remark 
was,  "  Who  told  you  all  this?  "  On  my  naming 
the  individual,  he  said,  "  He  told  you  the  truth. 
I  did  say  all  that.  I  was  very  angry  at  the 
way  in  which  I  had  been  treated  at  the  big 
house.  But  I  have  thought  the  matter  over,  and 
given  up  the  idea  of  putting  my  threat  into  execu- 
tion; though  I  am  not  pleased  yet."  I  soon  found 
that  I  was  in  a  pretty  fair  way  of  success;  yet  some- 
thing farther  on  my  part  was  to  be  said.  So,  know- 
ing the  Indian  character,  and,  for  one  thing,  that 
praise  of  their  children  goes  a  long  way  with  them, 
I  commenced  thus:  "  Now,  my  comrade,  you  know 
that  the  difficulty  you  had  with  those  men  at  the  big 
house  was  when  you  were  all  in  liquor.  You  know 
very  well  that  you  are  liked  by  the  whites.  You  are 
a  chief;  you  have  a  son — your  only  child — you  love 
him.  He  is  a  fine  boy.  Although  but  a  boy,  you 
know  that  the  chief  of  the  big  house  has  already 
armed  him  like  a  chief.  Would  you  do  anything  to 
deprive  your  only  child,  as  well  as  yourself,  of  chief- 
hood?  No!  certainly  not.  I  know  you  too  well  for 
that."  At  this  speech  I  heard  the  old  woman  groan; 
and,  during  the  pause  which  ensued,  I  observed  that 
I  had  them  both  about  melted  down  into  my  aflfec- 


TO  CAMP  IN  THE  CHERRY  BUSHES.      20$ 

tions.  The  idea  of  his  boy's  being  so  much  liked  and 
respected  by  the  whites  took  the  old  man's  fancy, 
and  a  pleasanter  or  more  cheerful  chap  could  scarcely 
have  been  raked  up. 

"  Now,"  said  I,  "  this  is  not  all.  I  want  my  men  to 
come  in  camp  and  stay  with  you  to-night,  and  I  want 
you  to  go  to  the  fort  with  me.  I  assure  you  they 
will  be  glad  to  see  you,  and  I  will  see  that  you  are  well 
paid  for  your  trouble."  Turning  to  the  old  lady,  I 
added,  "  I  will  send  you  a  nice  cotillion."  ^^  "  How! " 
said  she,  which  meant  ''Thank  you!"  Then  Wounded 
Leg  said,  "  That  is  all  right,  but  you  must  not  come 
into  this  camp;  it  would  not  be  good  for  you.  We 
are  starving,  our  dogs  also;  they  would  eat  up  your 
saddles  and  the  cords  of  your  packs.  You  had  bet- 
ter go  to  camp  in  the  cherry  bushes,"  which  he  then 
showed  me  about  a  mile  ofif. 

Taking  his  advice,  I  started  back  to  the  boys,  and 
when  near  them  made  signs  for  them  to  come 
on.  Meeting  me  and  learning  the  result  of  my  mis- 
sion, they  could  not  help  laughing  at  the  way  I  had 
''  buttered  the  old  fool,"  as  they  said.  We  steered 
our  course  for  the  cherry  bushes,  which  we  reached  at 
sunset.  The  wind  had  changed  to  the  north;  it  be- 
came again  very  cold,  and  to  save  our  lives  we  could 

"  A  piece  of  dress  goods  for  women's  wear,  woven  in  black- 
and-white. 


206  NO   FIRE — NO   FOOD — NO   SLEEP. 

not  get  a  fire  out  of  those  green  bushes.  There  was 
not  a  stick  of  dry  wood  to  be  found,  and  a  tremendous 
hard  night  we  had.  Sleep  was  out  of  the  question, 
and  it  was  too  cold  to  stand  a  good  guard;  the  re- 
sult was  that  the  two  bucks,  who  had  followed  us 
thus  far,  disappeared  with  two  of  our  best  horses,  one 
of  which  we  called  Father  De  Smet,  because  he  had 
been  brought  from  the  Flatheads  on  that  mis- 
sionary's return  from  the  Columbia.  We  were  then 
nearly  50  miles  from  the  fort,  which  distance  would 
have  taken  us  two  days;  but  now,  being  short  of 
horses,  it  would  take  us  double  that  time.  I  found 
an  Indian,  whom  I  knew  to  be  a  good  traveler,  and 
asked  him  if  he  could  go  to  the  fort  by  sunset; 
he  said  he  could,  for  he  had  already  done  it.  I  dis- 
patched him  with  a  letter  to  Mr.  Culbertson  to  send 
me  more  horses,  and  also  some  dried  meat,  as  we  were 
starving.  Dividing  the  loads  as  best  we  could,  we 
got  under  way  again,  making  but  slow  progress,  with 
Wounded  Leg,  several  other  men,  and  some  squaws 
in  company.  We  again  camped,  as  we  all  hoped  for 
the  last  time;  but  where  was  supper  to  come  from? 
We  had  not  a  thing  to  eat  and  were  mighty  hungry. 
I  thought  of  trying  rawhide  cords,  of  which  we  had  a 
few  bundles  left.  I  got  a  squaw  to  cut  them  up  fine 
and  boil  them;  besides  which,  as  a  great  favor,  I  got 
an  Indian  dog  killed  and  boiled.     That  I  knew  would 


BOILED   DOG.  20/ 

be  good;  and  as  I  could  not  obtain  more  than  one 
dog,  the  cords,  if  the  cooking  proved  successful, 
would  help  to  fill  up.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  was 
defeated  there,  for  the  longer  they  boiled  the  harder 
they  got,  and  they  could  not  be  brought  into  condi- 
tion to  swallow.  So  there  was  only  the  dog  for  sup- 
per. I  had  sent  it  to  a  squaw  to  cook  for  us,  and 
when  she  gave  it  to  us  some  of  the  boys  cried,  "  Mad 
dog!  mad  dog!"  Sure  enough,  he  did  look  like  a  mad 
dog;  for  there  was  his  head  sticking  partly  out  of  the 
kettle,  with  a  fine  set  of  ivories,  growling  as  it  were, 
and  the  scum  was  frothing  about  his  teeth.  After 
the  mirth  had  abated,  and  no  one  offered  to  dish  out 
the  "  mad  dog,"  I  appointed  Pitcher  master  of  cere- 
monies, thinking  a  pitcher  could  pour  out  soup  and 
hold  some  of  it  too.  He  commenced  with  great  dig- 
nity, but  some  of  the  boys  refused  to  partake,  saying 
they  would  rather  be  excused,  and  could  stand  it  until 
they  got  to  the  fort.  This  made  the  portions  so  much 
the  larger  for  the  balance  of  us;  the  biggest  part  of  the 
thigh  fell  to  my  share,  which  I  soon  demolished,  and 
I  must  say  it  sat  very  well  on  my  stomach.  But  some 
of  the  boys  began  to  say  the  "  mad  dog  "  was  trying 
to  run  out  the  same  way  he  went  in;  and  some  noises 
heard  outside  might  have  been  taken  to  signify  that 
the  animal  was  escaping. 

It  was  no  trouble  to  get  all  hands  up  next  morning, 


208  SAFE  BACK   TO   FORT   UNION. 

but  some  of  our  worn-out  horses  had  to  be  whipped 
up.  When  once  loaded  and  warmed  up  by  means  of 
the  whip,  they  could  only  be  made  to  keep  on  their 
feet  by  the  same  cruel  means,  which  we  were  obliged 
to  use  pretty  lively  all  the  morning.  Between  the 
hours  of  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  we  perceived  the 
re-enforcement  from  the  fort,  at  which  a  great  cry  of 
joy  was  heard  throughout  the  company.  The  loads 
were  soon  rearranged ;  each  man  took  a  piece  of  dried 
buffalo  meat  in  his  hands  to  eat  on  the  way;  the  march 
was  resumed,  all  eating  and  whipping,  as  there  was  no 
time  to  spare  to  reach  the  fort  that  day.  Owing  to 
those  double  exertions,  by  sunset  we  were  on  the 
ridge,  in  sight  of  Union  and  of  its  fine  large  American 
flag.  This  had  been  hoisted  on  our  return  from  an 
expedition  which  had  caused  much  uneasiness,  from 
the  many  reports  which  had  made  it  doubtful  whether 
we  could  ever  get  back.  We  were  also  in  sight  of  the 
Opposition,  and  I  afterward  heard  that  Mr,  Cotton, 
on  seeing  us,  said,  "  Well,  Larpenteur  was  not 
badly  robbed — see  what  a  fine  lot  of  robes  he  has!" 
In  ten  minutes  after  reaching  the  ridge  we  were  safe 
in  the  fort. 

Chief  Wounded  Leg,  like  the  rest  of  us,  met  with  a 
cordial  welcome;  and  as  a  large  trading  party  had 
just  arrived,  a  keg  of  liquor  was  presented  him,  to 
drink  with  his  friends.     Among  them  was  a  certain 


THE   HAND   KILLED.  209 

Indian  named  the  Hand,  the  greatest  rascal  in  the 
tribe,  it  was  believed,  who  had  retaken  two  horses 
from  some  Assiniboines  who  had  stolen  them  from  the 
fort,  and  he  had  come  to  return  them,  in  company 
with  us.  In  some  drunken  spree  he  had  killed  an  in- 
dividual whose  relations  were  in  the  trading  party 
above  mentioned.  Fearing  that  he  might  be  killed, 
I  remarked  to  Mr.  Culbertson  that  it  would  not  be 
advisable  to  let  him  go  out  and  drink  with  the  other 
Indians — better  let  him  have  a  little  liquor  in  the  fort, 
and  if  he  got  too  troublesome  we  could  tie  him.  This 
plan  was  adopted ;  and  as  I  was  much  fatigued,  I  re- 
tired, telling  Mr.  Culbertson  to  awaken  me  in  case  they 
could  not  manage  him  without  me.  He  got  so  drunk 
they  could  do  nothing  with  him,  and  insisted  on  leav- 
ing; so  the  door  was  opened  and  the  gentleman 
turned  out.  Earlv  in  the  morning,  I  was  again  on 
duty.  The  doors  were  still  shut;  but,  being  tired  of 
hearing  a  constant  knocking,  I  went  to  see  who  was 
there.  By  the  sound  of  the  voice  I  knew  who  he 
was,  and  that  he  was  all  right;  so  I  opened  the  small 
door.  "  Here,"  said  the  Indian,  "  I  killed  a  dog  last 
night.  Take  him  in  and  shut  the  door."  This  dog 
was  Mr.  Hand,  whose  corpse  had  been  wrapped  up 
in  his  robe  and  bundled  on  a  dog-travaille.^*  So  much 
for  him,  and  we  were  not  sorry,  as  he  was  a  devil. 

'*  For  the  various  spellings  and  etymology  of  this  word,  as  well 
as  description  of  the  vehicle,  see  Henry  Joiim.  i,  1897,  p.  142. 


210  GOLDEN  VISIONS. 

Shortly  afterward  we  learned  that  another  indi- 
vidual had  killed  his  own  father.  I  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  mention  him  again.  Some  time  before  our  re- 
turn I  learned  that  my  interpreter  had  died  about 
eight  days  after  he  reached  the  fort,  complaining  of 
headache.  The  vulgar  said  he  died  of  the  hollow 
horn;  and  others,  of  the  hollow  head.  My  good  friend 
Pitcher,  I  was  informed  long  afterward,  struck  for 
Virginia  City,  where  I  hope  he  became  a  pitcher  full 
of  gold.'* 

**  Larpenteur  puns  on  Pich^'s  name  to  the  end  of  the  chapter, 
as  we  see,  but  it  must  be  noted  that  in  this  last  instance  he  is 
speaking  of  something  that  happened  about  20  years  after  the 
time  to  which  the  rest  of  the  chapter  refers.  Virginia  City  and 
Nevada  City,  a  mile  apart  on  Alder  Gulch,  in  present  Madison 
Co.,  Montana,  were  two  places  which  sprung  up  like  magic  from 
the  rudiments  of  the  first  mining  camps  of  June  and  July,  1863, 
as  if  at  the  touch  of  King  Midas — that  great  alchemist  whose  art 
transmuted  all  things  into  gold.  The  mining  district  was  first 
called  Fairweather,  from  the  name  of  one  of  the  prospectors,  and 
Virginia  City  was  first  named  Varina  City,  in  honor  of  Jeff  Davis' 
wife;  but  Unionists  would  not  stand  this  sig^  of  Southern  sym- 
pathy, and  Varina  was  changed  by  some  caprice  to  Virginia  be- 
fore its  former  name  had  been  generally  adopted.  See,  for  exam- 
ple, Langford's  Vigilante  Days  and  Ways,  i,  1893,  p.  352,  etc., 
where  will  be  found  the  best  account  extant  of  Virginia  City  and 
Alder  Gulch — and  indeed  I  think  that  anyone  who  reads  it  will 
be  likely  to  finish  both  volumes  of  this  work,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  entertaining  and  trustworthy  books  ever  written  on  the 
makers  and  the  making  of  the  West.  It  cost  me  a  sleepless 
night,  which  I  have  never  regretted. 


CHAPTER  XL 
(1844-45.) 

CARNIVAL  OF  CRIME. 

Jim  Bridger, being  a  great  trapper,  and  having  been 
told  that  there  were  many  beaver  on  Milk  river, 
thought  of  trying  his  luck  in  that  direction.  He  left 
the  mountains  with  a  picked  party  of  30  men,  all  good 
trappers  and  Indian  fighters.  Nothing  unusual  tran- 
spired at  Fort  Union  until  about  the  month  of  Novem- 
ber [1844]  when  Bridger  and  his  men  made  their 
appearance,  having  come  from  Milk  river  with  the 
intention  of  passing  the  winter  with  us.  Mr.  Laid- 
law,  who  was  in  charge  at  the  time,  offered  him  all 
assistance  he  could  afford,  to  make  his  winter 
quarters  pleasant  and  comfortable,  and  so  Bridger 
pitched  his  camp  about  half  a  mile  from  the  fort. 
But  he  had  been  deceived  by  exaggerated  reports  of 
the  quantity  of  beaver  that  could  be  had  on  Milk 
river,  and  his  hunt  had  been  a  very  poor  one.  The 
main  substance  of  Bridger's  conversation  was  his 
brave  men,  his  fast  horses,  and  his  fights  with  Black- 


212  SORTIE  AGAINST  SIOUX. 

feet,  till  we  were  induced  to  believe  that,  with  such  a 
party  to  defend  us,  there  would  be  no  danger  for  us 
in  case  of  an  attack  by  Sioux.  At  that  time  such 
affairs  became  quite  frequent,  and  the  Sioux  generally 
came  in  large  parties.  Bridger  soon  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  display  the  bravery  of  his  men,  whom  he  had 
cracked  up  so  highly.  A  few  days  before  Christmas 
[1844]  a  large  war  party  made  a  raid  on  the  band 
of  horses  belonging  to  the  fort,  running  oflf  six  of 
them,  and  wounding  one  of  the  guard  in  the  leg  with 
buckshot.  The  alarm  was  immediately  given,  and 
the  braves  were  mounted  to  pursue  the  Sioux. 
Bridger's  clerk,  who  had  been  left  in  camp,  came  run- 
ning into  the  fort  out  of  breath,  scared  to  death. 
"  Get  up  all  the  men  you  can !  The  Sioux  are  in  camp 
— they  are  butchering  us!  "  Mr.  Denig  and  I,  with 
a  few  men,  all  we  could  get,  took  our  guns,  and  ran 
with  all  our  might  to  render  what  assistance  we 
could.  Finding  that  this  was  a  case  in  which  we  had 
to  be  cautious,  we  went  along  under  the  steep  bank 
of  the  river  till  we  thought  ourselves  about  opposite 
the  camp,  where  we  stopped  to  listen  for  the  cries  of 
the  reported  butchering.  Hearing  nothing,  we  cau- 
tiously raised  our  heads  over  the  bank,  to  see  some  of 
the  performance.  Neither  seeing  nor  hearing  any- 
thing, we  came  to  the  conclusion  the  murderous  work 
had  been  done,  and  determined  to  go  to  the  camp, 


REPORT  OF  THE  RESULT.  21 3 

expecting  to  find  people  cut  to  pieces  and  scalped. 
To  our  great  surprise  we  saw  nothing — not  a  sign 
that  any  Indians  had  been  near  the  camp.  Now  as- 
sured that  Bridger's  brave  clerk  had  lied,  we  returned 
to  the  fort  laughing  at  his  fright. 

During  our  absence  on  this  dangerous  sortie,  Mr. 
Laidlaw  was  left  alone — that  is,  without  a  clerk.  I 
had,  in  my  hurry,  taken  the  key  of  the  store  with  me, 
and  pressing  demands  were  made  for  ammunition. 
Mr.  Laidlaw,  who  was  a  fiery,  quick-tempered  old 
Scotchman,  smashed  in  the  window  of  the  retail  store. 
Seeing  this,  on  our  entrance,  we  could  not  imagine 
what  could  have  been  the  matter.  No  word  had  been 
received  from  Bridger's  army,  but  we  expected  them 
to  return  with  the  recaptured  horses  and  with  scalps 
flying.  But  soon,  to  our  great  disappointment,  came 
the  report  that  a  man  had  been  killed;  that  a  mare 
belonging  to  Mr.  Ellingsworth,^  the  Opposition  book- 
keeper, had  been  shot  through  the  hip,  and  that  the 
Indians  were  daring  the  whites  to  fight.  The  Oppo- 
sition, who  had  seen  Bridger's  men  turn  out  to  fight, 

'Audubon,  Journ.  i,  1897,  p.  520,  date  of  May  28,  1843,  has: 
"Squires and  I  walked  to  Fort  George,  and  soon  met  a  young 
Englishman.  .  .  His  name  was  Illingsworth ;  he  is  the  present 
manager  of  this  establishment."  Mr.  Illingsworth  talked  buffalo 
to  Audubon,  promised  to  get  him  a  calf,  and  was  better  than  his 
word;  for  he  sent  one  which  Audubon  skinned  to  pickle  the  hide, 
and  the  head  of  another  which  Isaac  Sprague  drew. 


214  GARDEPIED   KILLED. 

had  concluded  to  join  them,  Mr.  Ellingsworth  had 
bought  this  fine  American  mare  of  Mr.  Laidlaw,  who 
had  brought  her  here  in  the  fall.  An  old  half- 
breed  Creek  was  also  well  mounted,  and  they 
both  very  soon  came  up  with  Bridger's  party, 
who  had  halted  at  the  foot  of  the  hills.  When 
Ellingsworth  and  the  old  man  approached  they 
saw  the  cause  of  the  halt;  the  Sioux  were  on 
a  hill,  making  signs  for  them  to  come  on  and 
fight.  By  this  time  their  party  had  been  re-enforced, 
and  Bridger's  men,  not  accustomed  to  deal  with  such 
a  large  force,  declined  the  invitation.  The  old  half- 
breed,  who  was  clear  grit,  put  the  whip  to  his  horse, 
telling  the  balance  to  come  on ;  but  only  Ellingsworth 
followed.  The  Sioux,  who  understood  this  kind  of 
warfare,  and  expected  the  whites  to  accept  the  chal- 
lenge, had  left  concealed  in  a  ravine  a  small  body  of 
their  party,  ready  to  let  fly  in  case  the  enemy  at- 
tempted to  come  on.  As  the  old  Indian  went  by  at 
full  speed  with  Ellingsworth,  the  Indians  fired  a  vol- 
ley, which  dropped  the  former  dead  off  his  horse, 
and  wounded  Ellingsworth's  mare  in  the  hip;  but  did 
not  come  so  near  killing  her  that  Ellingsworth  could 
not  make  his  escape.  The  Indians,  seeing  this,  com- 
menced to  yell,  and  renewed  their  defiance.  But  the 
brave  party  concluded  to  turn  back,  somewhat 
ashamed    of    themselves.     Bridger    was    extremely 


COWARDICE  OF  BRIDGER'S  MEN.  21 5 

mortified,  and  said  he  could  not  account  for  the  cow- 
ardice of  his  men  on  this  occasion.  At  the  funeral  of 
Gardepie — that  being  the  name  of  the  old  man — 
these  words  were  pronounced:  "  This  burial  is  caused 
by  the  cowardice  of  Bridger's  party."  This  expres- 
sion, it  was  thought,  would  result  in  a  fight  with  the 
Opposition;  but  the  discontentment  disappeared  with- 
out any  disturbance.  In  the  meantime  the  Sioux 
went  away,  having  killed  one  man,  wounded  another's 
mare,  and  taken  six  head  of  horses.  Bridger  became 
very  much  dissatisfied  with  his  men,  who  dispersed  in 
all  directions,  and  he  returned  to  the  mountains. 

Before  I  come  to  the  story  of  the  Blackfoot  massa- 
cre, which  is  not  yet  known,  I  will  explain  the  man- 
ner in  which  trade  was  carried  on  this  winter  [1844- 
45].  Owing  to  the  local  laws  which  were  put  in 
force,  we  were  not  allowed  to  go  into  Indian  camps 
to  trade;  the  trade  had  to  be  done  either  at  the  fort, 
or  at  an  outpost  allowed  by  the  agent.  So  we  had  to 
drum  up  Indians  to  get  them  into  the  fort,  and  be  on 
the  lookout  for  trading  parties  coming  in.  Being 
well  supplied  with  horses,  which  we  kept  constantly 
in  the  fort,  we  had  a  great  advantage  over  our  op- 
ponents, who  were  deficient  in  that  respect.  As  soon 
as  our  pickets,  whom  we  always  kept  out,  in  every  di- 
rection, made  the  signs  agreed  upon,  we  immediately 
mounted,   and,   according  to   signs   understood   by 


2l6  HOW  TRADE  WAS   MADE   BRISK. 

US,  the  required  number  of  horses  followed.  With 
our  pockets  full  of  tobacco  and  vermilion,  we  gal- 
loped as  fast  as  we  could,  in  order  to  get  ahead  of  the 
Opposition,  and  induce  the  Indians  to  consent  to  come 
to  our  fort.  But  frequently,  whether  yes  or  whether 
no,  their  robes  were  put  on  our  horses,  and  taken  to 
the  fort.  When  the  party  was  large,  and  some 
trouble  was  expected  in  bringing  in  the  chiefs,  a  sled 
was  brought  out,  having  a  small  keg  of  liquor  placed 
on  it,  to  treat  the  gentlemen;  and  a  band  of  music, 
bearing  the  flag,  was  also  in  attendance.  The  instru- 
ments consisted  of  a  clarionette,  a  drum,  a  violin,  and 
a  triangle,  besides  the  jingling  bells  on  the  sled,  and  it 
was  almost  impossible  for  Indians  to  refuse  such  an 
invitation.  They  laughed  with  delight  at  the  display, 
and  the  Opposition  could  not  "  come  it  over  them," 
as  the  saying  is.  Mr.  Cotton  found  himself  about  as 
badly  used  up  this  winter  as  he  had  been  last;  he 
learned  that  he  stood  a  poor  show  in  opposing  the 
American  Fur  Company,  and  that  it  would  take  Mr. 
Ebbitt,  or  any  other  man,  a  long  time  to  get  a  foot- 
ing in  the  country. 

This  winter  [1844-45  H  we  learned  that  Mr.  F.  A. 
Chardon  had  had  a  fight  with  the  Blood  Indians,  a 
band  of  Blackfeet  bearing  that  name;  but  no  particu- 
lars were  known  until  the  arrival  of  the  returns, 
which  generally  came  down  the  latter  part  of  April  or 


THE   BLACKFOOT   MASSACRE.  21/ 

the  first  part  of  May.  At  that  time  I  was  well  in- 
formed on  the  subject  by  Mr.  Des  Hotel,''  one  of  the 
clerks,  in  whom  full  confidence  could  be  placed. 

Mr.  Chardon,  who,  as  has  been  stated,  was  the  man 
who  [in  1843]  built  the  Blackfoot  post  at  the  mouth 
of  Judith  river,  generally  called  Fort  Chardon,  hap- 
pened to  have  a  man  killed  by  that  band  of  Blood 
Indians  last  [?]  winter.^  This  man  was  a  negro  by  the 

'  Or  des  Autel,  as  the  name  appears  in  De  Smet's  earlier  book, 
1847,  p.  338.     This  clerk  was  at  Fort  Madison  in  1846. 

^  "Last  winter,"  by  our  reckoning,  should  be  1843-44  ;  t)ut  it 
appears  to  have  been  that  of  1842-43.  The  massacre  was  cer- 
tainly known  in  the  spring  of  1843  ;  for  it  is  mentioned  by 
Audubon,  Journ.  i,  1897,  p.  501,  at  date  of  May  19,  1843,  when 
he  says  :  "  I  forgot  to  say  yesterday  two  things  which  I  should 
have  related,  one  of  which  is  of  a  dismal  and  very  disagreeable 
nature,  being  no  less  than  the  account  given  us  of  the  clerks  of 
the  Company  having  killed  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Blackfeet 
tribe  of  Indians,  at  the  upper  settlement  of  the  Company,  at  the 
foot  of  the  great  falls  of  the  Missouri,  and  therefore  at  the  base 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  Mr.  Laidlaw  assured  us  that  it 
would  be  extremely  dangerous  for  us  to  go  that  far  towards  these 
Indians."  The  scene  of  the  atrocity  was  not  Fort  Chardon,  as  our 
text  leaves  us  to  infer,  but  the  post  above  Maria's  river,  variously 
called  Fort  Piegan,  McKenzie,  or  Brul6.  It  is  probable  that 
Larpenteur's  account  is  the  most  reliable  one  we  possess,  aside 
from  the  discrepancy  in  date,  which  may  be  rather  apparent 
than  real.  The  exact  date,  to  the  day,  must  be  known  ;  but 
I  have  not  happened  upon  the  record. 

This  massacre  is  narrated  somewhat  differently  by  James 
Stuart,  in  Cont.  Mont.  Hist.  Soc.  i,  1876.  pp.  87,  88  :  "  In  1842, 
F.  A.  Chardon,  who  was  in  charge  of  Ft.  Brule  [st'c — meaning  Fort 


2l8  THE  BLACKFOOT  MASSACRE. 

name  of  Reese.  Mr.  Chardon,  it  appears,  set  great 
store  by  that  negro  and  swore  vengeance  on  the  band. 
He  communicated  his  designs  to  Alexander  Harvey, 
who,  wishing  no  better  fun,  agreed  to  take  an 
important  part.  They  also  got  old  man  Berger 
to  join  them.  The  plot  was,  when  the  band  came  to 
trade,  to  invite  three  of  the  head  men  into  the  fort, 
where  Harvey  was  to  have  the  cannon  in  the  bastion 
which  commanded  the  front  door  loaded  with  balls; 
when  the  Indians  should  be  gathered  thickly  at  the 
door,  waiting  for  the  trade  to  commence,  at  a  given 
signal  the  three  head  men  were  to  be  massacred  in  the 
fort,  and  Harvey  was  to  kill  as  many  others  as  he  could 
at  one  discharge;  on  which  they  expected  the  surviv- 
ing Indians  to  run  away,  abandoning  all  their  robes 

McKenzie,  above  the  mouth  of  Maria's  river]  massacred  about 
thirty  [!]  Blackfeet  Indians.  The  Indians  had  stolen  a  few 
horses  and  some  little  things  out  of  the  fort  from  time  to  time, 
and  Chardon  concluded  to  punish  them  for  it.  He  waited  until 
a  trading  party  came  in,  and  when  they  were  assembled  in  front 
of  the  gate,  he  opened  the  gate  and  fired  upon  them  with  a  small 
cannon  loaded  with  trade  balls.  After  firing  the  cannon,  the 
men  went  out  and  killed  all  the  wounded  with  knives.  The 
Blackfeet  stopped  trading,  and  moved  into  the  British  Posses- 
sions, and  made  war  on  the  post,  and  were  so  troublesome  that 
Chardon  abandoned  Brule  in  the  spring  [1843],  went  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Judith,  and  built  Ft.  F.  A.  Chardon  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  Missouri  river,  a  short  distance  above  the  mouth  of 
Judith  river,  which  was  burnt  up  when  Culbertson  built  Ft. 
Lewis  and  made  peace  with  the  Blackfeet." 


THE  BLACKFOOT  MASSACRE.  219 

and  horses,  of  which  the  three  whites  were  to  become 
the  owners,  share  and  share  alike.  But  it  did  not 
happen  quite  to  their  satisfaction;  for,  through  some 
means,  the  wicked  plot  was  made  known  in  time 
for  the  chiefs  to  run  out  of  the  office  and  escape  by 
jumping  over  the  pickets.  Mr.  Chardon  was  quick 
enough  to  shoot,  and  broke  the  thigh  of  the  principal 
chief.  Harvey  touched  ofif  the  cannon,  but,  as  the  In- 
dians had  commenced  to  scatter,  he  killed  but  three 
and  wounded  two.  The  rest  quickly  made  their  es- 
cape, leaving  all  their  plunder;  but  saved  nearly  all 
their  horses,  most  of  which  were  at  some  distance  from 
the  fort.  After  firing  the  shot,  Harvey  came  out  of 
the  bastion  and  finished  the  wounded  Indians  with  his 
large  dagy.*  I  was  told  he  then  licked  the  blood 
ofif  the  dagy  and  afterward  made  the  squaws  of  the 
fort  dance  the  scalp  dance  around  the  scalps,  which 
he  had  raised  himself. 

I  will  conclude  this  chapter  with  one  more  of  Har- 
vey's awful  deeds.  It  happened  that,  while  he  was  at 
old  Fort  McKenzie,  some  Indians,  who  had  a  spite 
against  the  fort,  took  it  into  their  heads  to  kill  some 
of  the  cattle.  One  day  a  party  of  five  chased 
away  some  of  the  milch  cows,  one  of  which  they  shot 

••  So  copy,  for  dague,  French  name  of  a  dag  or  dagger,  of  the 
sort  we  should  now  call  a  dirk  or  bowie-knife.  The  word  runs 
in  many  forms  through  various  European  languages. 


220  HARVEY  S  AWFUL   DEED. 

when  they  had  gone  a  short  distance  from  the  fort. 
On  learning  this,  Harvey  and  some  others  got  on  their 
horses  and  went  in  pursuit.  Harvey,  who  always 
kept  a  No.  i  horse,  soon  overtook  the  Indian  who  had 
shot  the  cow,  and  when  he  got  within  a  few  steps 
fired  and  broke  his  thigh ;  the  Indian  fell  off  his  horse, 
and  there  he  lay.  Harvey  came  up  to  him,  got  ofiE 
his  horse,  and  took  his  seat  near  the  wounded  Indian, 
saying,  "  Now,  comrade,  I  have  got  you.  You  must 
die.  But,  before  you  die,  you  must  smoke  a  pipe 
with  me."  Having  lighted  his  pipe  and  made  the 
poor  Indian  smoke,  he  then  said,  "  I  am  going  to  kill 
you,  but  I  will  give  you  a  little  time  to  take  a  good 
look  at  your  country."  The  Indian  begged  for 
his  life,  saying,  "  Comrade,  it  is  true  I  was  a  fool.  I 
killed  your  cow;  but  now  that  you  have  broken  my 
thigh,  this  ought  to  make  us  even — spare  my  life !  " 
"  No,"  said  Harvey;  "  look  well,  for  the  last  time,  at 
all  those  nice  hills — at  all  those  paths  which  lead  to 
the  fort,  where  you  came  with  your  parents  to  trade, 
playing  with  your  sweethearts — look  at  that,  will 
you,  for  the  last  time."  So  saying,  with  his  gun 
pointed  at  the  head  of  his  victim,  he  pulled  the  trigger 
and  the  Indian  was  no  more. 


CHAPTER   XII. 
(1845-46.) 

POPLAR  RIVER  CAMP. 

The  steamer  made  her  appearance  at  the  usual  time, 
in  June  [1845],  Mr.  Honore  Picotte  in  charge.  As 
it  was  customary  for  all  the  partners  to  meet  in  St. 
Louis  in  summer,  I  was  left  in  charge  of  Fort  Union 
until  one  of  them  returned  in  the  fall.  I  asked  Mr. 
Picotte  what  kind  of  men  he  had  brought  up;  to 
which  he  replied,  "  First-rate  men."  "  Will  they  not 
be  apt  to  desert?  "  "  No,"  said  he,  "  not  one."  My 
fear  of  their  desertion  was  based  on  their  probably 
being  unwilling  to  go  to  the  Blackfoot  post,  on  ac- 
count of  the  massacre  of  last  [?]  winter.  The  steamer 
left  the  same  day,  in  the  evening.  During  the  night 
I  was  made  the  father  of  a  fine  son.  In  the  morning 
the  artillery  was  playing,  and,  in  consequence  of  this, 
something  extra  must  be  done.  All  hands  had  a 
holiday,  with  the  promise  of  a  big  ball  at  night. 
Scrubbing,  washing,  and  cooking  went  on  all  day,  and 
at  night  the  ball  opened;  it  went  off  peaceably,  which 


222         OUTFITTING    FOR   THE    BLACKFOOT    POST. 

was  rarely  the  case  in  this  place.  All  hands  retired  in 
good  time,  and  had  a  good  night's  sleep.  Mr. 
Auguste  Chouteau,  who  was  clerk  and  had  charge  of 
the  men,  came  to  my  room  early  in  the  morning,  say- 
ing, "  Mr.  Larpenteur,  twelve  men  left  last  night." 
Although  I  expected  some  desertions,  I  did  not 
think  any  would  occur  until  the  men  were  notified  to 
go  to  the  Blackfeet;  but  they  had  been  persuaded  by 
some  of  the  Opposition  who  came  to  the  ball,  and  be- 
ing afraid  they  would  have  to  go,  they  thought  best 
to  disappear  while  they  could  get  employment  else- 
where. I  had  still  many  men  left,  went  on  preparing 
the  outfit,  and  in  a  few  days  all  was  ready  for  their 
departure.  James  Lee  had  been  sent  for  by  Mr. 
Chardon,  who  had  heard  he  was  a  bully  and  a  bravo. 
Lee  was  to  go  up  to  the  Blackfoot  post,  and  it  after- 
ward appeared  that  he  intended  to  chastise  Harvey. 
During  the  outfitting  we  learned  enough  to  induce 
us  to  believe  that  a  plot  had  been  made  to  pound 
Harvey  on  their  arrival,  but  not  to  murder  him.  Mr. 
Chardon  was  then  at  Fort  Clark,  his  old  sta- 
tion. Mr.  Culbertson  was  in  charge  of  the  Black- 
foot  outfit,  with  the  understanding  that  he  was  to 
burn  down  Fort  Chardon,  and  build  farther  up  the 
Missouri. 

I  finally  succeeded  in  getting  the  outfit  all  right, 
but  with  a  frightened  set  of  men.     As  they  pushed 


REPEATED   DESERTIONS.  223 

off  a  large  number  of  the  Opposition  men  were  on  the 
shore,  crying  out  to  them,  "  You  are  going  to  the 
butcher-shop — good-by  forever! "  But  the  boys, 
who  felt  the  effects  of  a  good  jigger  to  which  they 
had  just  been  treated,  scoffed  at  this,  and  went  off 
finely.  After  this  I  had  the  Crow  outfit  to  start  off; 
but  there  were  plenty  of  men  left  for  this,  and  for  my 
own  use  at  the  fort.  Early  next  morning  Mr.  Chou- 
teau came  to  me  again,  saying,  "  Seven  more  men  gone 
last  night."  This  was  rather  a  striker,  but  on  count- 
ing the  number  left,  I  found  that  I  could  send  up  the 
Crow  outfit,  and  went  to  work  at  the  equipment. 
The  following  morning,  however,  three  more  had  de- 
serted, and  others  kept  leaving,  one  by  one,  until  I 
had  to  abandon  the  Crow  outfit.  Desertions  con- 
tinued until  I  was  left  with  but  four  men  all  told. 
This  number  being  too  few  to  keep  the  fort  in  safety 
until  the  return  of  the  gentlemen  in  the  fall,  I  imme- 
diately dispatched  Owen  McKenzie,^  the  son  of  Ken- 
neth McKenzie,  with  letters  to  Fort  Pierre,  to  be 

'"At  the  White  River  post,  I  availed  myself  of  Owen 
McKenzie's  hospitable  welcome,  and  remained  in  his  log-house 
with  another  trader  of  the  American  Fur  Company.  Besides 
these  two  gentlemen  were  two  other  white  traders,  who  had 
established  themselves  in  a  log-house  at  little  more  than  gun- 
shot distance,"  Palliser,  1853,  p.  165,  writing  of  1847-48.  The 
opposition  traders  were  Martin  and  Frederick,  the  former  a 
Frenchman. 


224  SIOUX   ATTACKS    ASSINIBOINES. 

forwarded  thence  to  St.  Louis.  Much  were  they 
astonished  when  the  dispatch  arrived.  Men  were  im- 
mediately engaged  and  sent  up  by  Mr.  Denig,  who 
had  gone  on  a  visit  to  his  friends  this  summer.  Hav- 
ing so  few  men  with  me,  the  Opposition  men  became 
very  troublesome;  so  much  so  that  I  had  to  lock  the 
door  on  them. 

Shortly  after  the  return  of  McKenzie  from  Fort 
Pierre,  a  party  of  Sioux  came  to  war  on  the  Assini- 
boines,  and  had  taken  all  the  horses  belonging  to  the 
Opposition  when  the  alarm  was  given.  We  ascended 
the  bastion  to  see  the  performance,  but  it  was  all 
over,  and  the  Sioux  made  bold  enough  to  sit  on  the 
hill,  quietly  smoking  their  pipes,  in  full  view  of  both 
forts.  McKenzie,  who  was  very  young,  active,  and 
brave,  said  to  me,  "  Mr.  Larpenteur,  this  is  too  bad; 
let  us  go  and  exchange  shots,  and  see  if  we  cannot 
get  back  some  of  those  old  plugs."  As  I  agreed  to 
this,  we  ran  down  at  once,  mounted  the  two  swiftest 
horses  in  the  fort,  and  off  we  went.  Bullets  were 
soon  flying  about  us,  but  we  succeeded  in  recapturing 
four  head  of  horses,  which  we  generously  gave  back 
to  the  Opposition,  and  our  names  went  high  up 
among  the  bucks  and  squaws  who  were  singing  and 
dancing  around  the  fort. 

After  this  times  passed  off  somewhat  more 
smoothly.    Mr.  Denig,  who  had  been  started  up  with 


HARVEY    BADLY    BEATEN.  22$ 

a  new  supply  of  men,  arrived  early  in  October  [1845], 
and  things  became  quite  lively  again.  Soon  after  his 
return,  when  we  were  sitting  on  the  porch  one  even- 
ing, we  saw  Harvey  walking  up  to  the  house  with 
his  rifle  across  his  arm.  At  a  little  distance  he 
stopped  to  ask,  "  Am  I  among  friends  or  enemies 
here?  "  Being  told  that  we  did  not  think  he  was  in 
any  danger  here,  he  entered  and  commenced  his  story 
with,  "  Boys,  I  came  very  near  being  killed."  Being 
asked  by  whom,  he  replied,  "  By  Malcolm  Clark,  Jim 

Lee,  and  old  man  Berger;  but  the  d d  cowards 

could  not  do  it."  Then  he  pulled  ofif  his  hat,  show- 
ing the  mark  of  Clark's  tomahawk,  with  which  his 
head  had  beeri  broken;  and  his  hand  was  injured 
where  Lee  had  struck  him  with  a  pistol.  Being  then 
asked  the  particulars,  he  said  that,  on  learning  of  the 
arrival  of  the  boat,  he  got  on  his  horse  to  meet  it  and 
learn  the  news,  as  is  customary  on  such  occasions. 
Having  gone  about  20  miles  below  the  fort,  he  saw 
the  boat,  and  beckoned  them  to  land.  As  he  had 
been  left  in  charge  of  the  fort,  they  could  not  well  re- 
fuse to  do  so.  As  the  boat  landed  he  gave  his  horse 
in  care  of  the  man  whom  he  had  taken  with  him,  and 
suspecting  nothing,  but  glad  to  see  the  men,  he 
jumped  on  board  and  entered  the  cabin  where  the 
three  gentlemen  were  sitting.  He  offered  his  hand 
to  Clark,  who  said,  "  I  don't  shake  hands  with  such  a 


226  HARVEY'S   PLANS. 

-d  rascal  as  you,"  on  which  a  blow  of  his  toma- 


hawk followed,  and  then  a  blow  with  the  butt  of  a 
rifle  from  Berger.  In  spite  of  all  this  he  would  have 
succeeded  in  throwing  Clark  into  the  river,  had  it  not 
been  for  Lee,  who  struck  him  such  a  severe  blow  on 
the  hand  with  a  pistol  that  he  had  to  let  go  his  hold 
and  make  his  escape.  "  I  then  got  on  my  horse," 
he  continued,  "  and  when  I  arrived  at  the  fort  I  told 
the  men  my  story.  They  were  much  displeased,  and 
as  they  did  not  like  Clark,  and  had  already  learned 
Lee's  character,  they  consented  to  protect  me.  I 
told  them  that  I  intended  to  hold  the  fort  and  not  let 
a  d d  one  in." 

To  this  the  men  agreed,  and  preparations  were 
made  for  defense.  When  the  boat  arrived  no  one 
was  allowed  to  enter,  not  even  Mr,  Culbertson.  But 
after  hard  pleadings  Mr.  Culbertson,  who  had  always 
proved  a  friend  to  Harvey,  made  him  agree  to  give 
up  the  fort,  on  condition  that  Mr.  Culbertson  should 
give  him  a  draft  for  all  his  wages,  and  a  good  recom- 
mendation. On  receiving  those  papers,  Harvey  left 
in  a  small  canoe  with  one  man. 

He  remained  but  a  couple  of  days  at  Union,  and, 
on  leaving,  said,  "  Never  mind!  you  will  see  old  Har- 
vey bobbing  about  here  again;  they  think  they  have 
got  me  out  of  the  country,  but  they  are  damnably 
mistaken.     I'll  come  across  Clark  again." 


HARVEY,  PRIMEAU    AND    CO.  22/ 

Fort  Pierre  was  then  the  headquarters  of  the  trad- 
ing posts  on  the  Missouri;  all  drafts  and  papers  had 
to  be  examined  and  signed  there.  The  company- 
owed  Harvey  $5000,  and  he  had  to  get  his  draft  there 
for  the  whole  amount.  Mr.  Picotte  appeared  some- 
what slow  and  did  not  come  to  time  until  Harvey 
threatened  to  pound  him,  when  the  draft  was  made 
out. 

It  happened  that,  when  Harvey  arrived  at  Fort 
Pierre,  the  most  important  clerks  of  the  post  were 
dissatisfied  with  their  treatment,  and  had  made  up  a 
company  in  opposition  to  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany. The  members  of  this  new  organization  were 
Harvey  himself,  Charles  Primeau,^  Joseph  Picotte 
(nephew  of  Honore  Picotte),  and  Bonise,  the  book- 
keeper of  Fort  Pierre,  under  the  firm  name  of  Har- 
vey, Primeau  and  Co.  Under  those  agreements,  which 
were  not  known  at  the  time,  Harvey  immediately  left 
for  St.   Louis.     There  he  apprised  Colonel  Robert 

*  A  well-known  trader  for  many  years  among  the  Sioux  and, 
other  Indians,  and  the  same  for  whom  was  named  Fort  Primeau, 
which  in  the  fifties  or  later  stood  about  300  yards  from  Fort 
Clark,  at  the  Mandans.  Mr.  Primeau  was  born  in  St.  Louis, 
and  had  been  a  clerk  in  the  A.  F.  Co.  when  he  formed  the  part- 
nership named  above.  It  lasted  a  few  years,  and  was  then 
absorbed  in  the  A.  F.  Co.  He  continued  to  serve  the  latter  for 
a  time,  and  afterward  held  an  appointment  as  government  inter- 
preter.    He  was  living  at  Fort  Yates  in  1896. 


228  RETURN    OF   KENNETH    McKENZIE. 

Campbell  of  the  arrangements,  and  in  the  spring 
[1846]  the  company  started  operations,  with  a  large 
outfit,  sufficient  to  establish  themselves  at  all  the  posts 
of  the  American  Fur  Company.  Harvey  came  up  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  in  the  steamer,  and 
went  on  to  Benton  in  a  Mackinaw  with  his  outfit. 

A  short  time  after  Harvey  left  us  Mr.  Kenneth  Mc- 
Kenzie  arrived  to  take  charge  of  Fort  Union.  He 
had  left  the  country  six  or  seven  years  previously,  but 
had  reserved  a  share  in  the  Company,  on  condition 
that  in  case  of  opposition  he  would  return,  should  it 
be  deemed  necessary  by  the  members  of  the  Com- 
pany, and  on  that  understanding  he  now  returned. 
This  was  about  the  commencement  of  the  meat  trade 
[of  1845] ;  on  his  arrival  my  charge  ended,  and  I  was 
reinstated  in  the  liquor  shop.  Mr.  McKenzie  was 
pleased  with  my  administration;  he  found  everything 
to  his  satisfaction,  and  said  I  had  done  well,  though 
I  ought  not  to  have  left  the  fort,  at  a  time  when  I 
had  so  few  men,  to  fight  Indians. 

The  American  Fur  Company,  having  always  had 
more  influence  in  this  country  than  the  Indian  de- 
partment, thought  they  would  abolish  the  local  law, 
and  carry  on  trade  on  the  old  principle,  which  was 
camp  trading.  So  when  the  robe  trade  commenced, 
traders  were  dispersed  in  all  directions.  But  Mr.  Mc- 
Kenzie, like  Mr.  Culbertson,  kept  me  at  the  fort  un- 


ORDERED   TO   POPLAR   RIVER.  229 

til  the  last.  Finally  my  turn  came,  and  I  was  sent 
with  a  good  outfit  into  a  large  camp  on  Poplar  river,^ 
about  60  miles  by  land  above  Union.  As  a  matter 
of  course  I  took  plenty  of  liquor.  I  had  four  men  and 
ten  horses — more  than  I  wanted — but  the  intention 
was  for  me  to  send  them  back  loaded  with  meat  for 
the  fort.  A  certain  Indian  by  the  name  of  Iron-eyed 
Dog  was  known  as  the  greatest  rascal  and  ugliest  In- 
dian in  the  camp;  his  brother  had  been  killed  while 
camped  at  the  fort  by  a  war  party  of  Sioux,  who  sur- 
prised them  in  the  night.  This  brother  was  a  chief, 
called  the  One  who  Guards  the  Whites — a  very  good 
Indian  for  us  to  have.  He  was  shot  in  the  back,  the 
ball  passing  through  his  breast.  The  Indians,  know- 
ing that  the  whites  thought  much  of  him,  and  believing 
their  medicine  might  cure  him,  brought  him  to  the 
fort  from  camp,  which  was  not  more  than  300  yards 
off.     That  happened  about  midnight.     Shortly  after 

^  Present  name  of  the  second  considerable  tributary  of  the 
Missouri  from  the  N.,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  Big 
Muddy  being  the  first  such  tributary.  Poplar  river  is  the  Porcu- 
pine of  Lewis  and  Clark,  ed.  of  1893,  P-  293,  whose  Martha's  river 
is  the  present  Big  Muddy.  The  Fort  Peck  Indian  Reservation  ex- 
tends along  the  Missouri  on  the  N.  from  Big  Muddy,  past  Poplar, 
to  the  mouth  of  Milk  river.  Camp  Poplar  River  is  the  military 
post  and  agency  at  the  mouth  of  the  stream  whence  the  name  was 
derived,  and  there  is  now  Poplar  station,  near  where  the  G.  N.  Ry. 
crosses  this  river.  The  distance  from  Union  by  trail  was  as  said 
in  text ;  by  the  river  it  is  about  95  miles. 


230  IN  POPLAR  RIVER  CAMP. 

he  was  brought  in  his  brother,  the  Iron-eyed  Dog, 
came  knocking  at  the  door  to  be  let  in;  but  as  many 
others  had  knocked,  we  paid  no  attention  to  him. 
This  made  him  extremely  angry,  and  he  swore  he 
would  kill  me  on  the  first  opportunity,  for  he  knew  I 
was  the  doorkeeper.  Such  was  the  character  with 
whom  I  expected  to  have  to  deal  in  this  camp,  where 
I  arrived  on  the  third  day  out  from  Union. 

After  I  had  stored  everything  properly,  I  was  in- 
vited into  the  lodges  of  the  chiefs  and  leading  men,  to 
partake  of  a  dish  of  pounded  buffalo  meat  and 
marrow  grease,  as  is  their  custom.  In  one  of  the 
lodges,  where  several  Indians  had  assembled,  I  was  in- 
formed that  Iron-eyed  Dog,  whom  they  call  in  their 
language  Shonkish-ta-man-zah,*  had  gone  to  the  fort, 
but  was  expected  back  that  night,  and  would  be  apt 
to  make  much  trouble,  and  very  likely  kill  me;  but 
they  thought  I  might  be  able  to  reconcile  him  by 
talking  to  him  and  making  him  a  little  present,  as 
usual  on  such  occasions.  Knowing  the  Dog  of  old, 
I  invited  the  principal  chief  to  my  lodge  and  gave 
him  what  he  thought  was  sufficient;  he  started  oflf, 
saying  that  he,  with  the  others,  would  do  their  utmost 

*  Shonk-ishta-maza  would  be  a  fair  spelling  of  the  name,  which 
is  compounded  of  shonka,  dog;  ishta,  eye;  and  tnaza,  metal. 
The  individual  seems  to  have  been  a  notable  character,  for  I  have 
his  name  in  print,  though  I  do  not  find  the  reference  among  my 
memoranda. 


RAGE   OF  THE  IRON-EYED  DOG.  23 1 

for  me.     This  was  some  consolation,  but  did  not  go 
very  far  toward  making  me  feel  safe. 

That  night,  when  the  liquor  trade  commenced,  the 
very  devil  was  raised  in  camp.  Iron-eyed  Dog,  who 
had  arrived,  and  all  the  other  dogs,  including  my  life 
preservers,  soon  got  drunk.  There  was  I,  with  only 
four  other  men,  among  about  300  drunken  Indians, 
with  no  alternative  but  to  trust  to  luck.  One  stout, 
fine-looking  Indian  whom  I  had  never  seen  before, 
and  who  suspected  something,  took  his  seat  by  my 
side,  holding  a  large  war-club  between  his  knees,  and 
kept  very  quiet  the  whole  time.  At  first  I  did  not 
know  what  he  was  there  for,  but  soon  found  out; 
things  were  as  I  suspected  and  feared.  Suddenly  in 
came  Iron-eyed  Dog  in  great  fury,  saying,  "  Here  you 
are!  Do  you  expect  to  live  through  this  night — you 
who  would  not  open  the  door  for  me  when  my  brother 
was  killed?  Did  I  not  say  I  would  kill  you?"  He 
went  on  like  this  at  a  tremendous  rate,  and  then 
rushed  out  again.  But  it  seemed  to  me  that  he  did  not 
like  the  looks  of  the  man  with  the  war-club,  who  now 
and  then  pressed  his  hand  on  my  knee,  as  much  as  to 
say,  "  Be  not  afraid."  Then  came  two  more  drunken 
Indians;  one  of  them  named  Cougher,  and  ihe  other 
an  individual  who  had  killed  his  own  father;  both  had 
plotted  with  others  to  murder  me  in  the  lodge  and 
plunder  my  outfit.     But  it  happened  that  I  had  a 


232  PACIFIC   ORATORY. 

good  old  friend  in  camp,  whose  name  was  the  Ha- 
ranguer,  and  who  made  such  a  fine  speech  that  they 
abandoned  the  idea.  This  is  about  as  near  as  I  can 
interpret  it:  "  What  is  it  that  I  hear?  Brothers  and 
kindred,  do  you  think  you  will  need  your  trader  no 
longer,  now  that  spring  is  come  and  trade  is  over? 
You  have  your  fill  of  everything,  and  now  talk  of  kill- 
ing your  trader.  Where  will  you  go?  Go  north  and 
starve?  Give  away  your  hunts  for  nothing?  Why 
kill  this  poor  white  man?  What  has  he  done  to  you? 
No,  brothers!  have  pity  upon  him,  upon  me;  spare 
his  life."  On  his  saying  this,  which  they  understood 
to  be  the  conclusion  of  his  speech,  a  young  man  got 
up  and  handed  him  his  knife,  as  a  sign  of  approval, 
and  so  the  idea  was  given  up.  My  war-club  man  all 
this  time  said  never  a  word,  but  the  repeated  appli- 
cations of  his  hand  inspired  a  sense  of  safety  in  my 
badly  frightened  heart. 

After  that  came  the  One  Who  Killed  His  Father, 
and  Mr.  the  Cougher,  when  all  the  liquor  was  gone, 
wanting  absolutely  to  get  some  more,  saying,  "  If  you 
have  none,  make  some.  You  whites  are  strong  medi- 
cine. You  can  make  fire-water."  Seeing,  however, 
that  I  was  not  "  medicine,"  they  insisted  on  my 
giving  their  squaws  some  trinkets,  and  off  they 
went,  saying  that  they  would  soon  be  back. 
Then  in  popped  the  Dog  again,  and  came  at  me 


AFTER  THE  TEMPEST  IN  A  TEAPOT.  233 

with  his  pipe,  saying,  "  Smoke!  smoke!  Why  don't 
you  smoke?  I'll  make  you  smoke — you  dog,  you." 
This  Indian  knew  I  seldom  smoked,  and  only  during 
some  of  their  ceremonies,  so  he  kept  running  in  and 
out  in  this  manner,  and  never  left  the  lodge  without 
threatening  to  kill  me. 

At  last  this  night,  so  long  to  me,  wore  away; 
when  day  came  all  was  quiet  in  camp,  and  I  felt 
as  though  I  had  been  on  board  a  vessel  in  a  gale 
which  had  subsided  in  a  perfect  calm.  After 
such  a  storm  my  appetite  was  not  very  sharp, 
but  we  had  to  get  breakfast  early,  before  any 
Indians  came  loafing  in.  A  strong  cup  of  coffee 
was  soon  ready;  this  revived  me,  but  the  dread 
of  seeing  the  mad  dog  again  was  still  heavy  on 
my  mind.  My  war-club  man  was  gone,  and  I  saw.  no 
one  about  me  that  would  be  likely  to  take  my  part. 
Iron-eyed  Dog  soon  made  his  appearance  with  about 
20  of  his  young  men,  all  armed  and  painted,  and  I 
thought  then  surely  I  was  gone  up.  The  Dog  was 
quite  sober,  and  said  to  me,  "  It  was  a  good  thing 
for  you  that  I  got  too  drunk  to  come  to  your  lodge 
once  more  last  night,  for  I  did  intend  to  kill  you. 
Now  you  must  give  each  of  my  young  men  some 
ammunition,  tobacco,  and  vermilion,  a  knife,  and 
a  looking  glass;  and  give  those,"  he  continued 
— pointing     to     four     or     five — "  a     breech-cloth 


234  CONCLUSION  OF  THE  AFFAIR. 

apiece."  This  being  done,  he  ordered  them  to 
go  away;  "  and  now,"  said  he,  "  give  me  my  pres- 
ent." So  I  gave  him  50  rounds  of  ammunition 
— the  usual  allowance  for  a  big  man — eight  small 
plugs  of  tobacco,  one  knife,  one  palette  of  ver- 
milion, and  a  breech-cloth.  To  his  squaw  who  was 
present,  I  gave  a  cotillion  of  cloth,  some  beads,  and 
other  trinkets.  He  went  oflf  without  saying  another 
word  and  I  never  saw  him  again ;  but  what  became  of 
him  will  be  made  known  in  the  sequel." 

The  trading  being  nearly  over,  I  sent  to  the  fort  for 
horses  to  bring  in  my  returns,  and  five  days  afterward 
eight  men  arrived  with  32  head  of  horses.  Mr.  Mc- 
Kenzie  advised  me  by  letter  to  be  very  cautious  on  my 
return,  as  a  party  of  young  men  had  gone  up  my  way 
with  the  intention  of  stealing  the  horses;  to  stand 
strong  guard  each  night,  and,  if  possible,  get  some 
good  Indians  to  come  with  me.  I  had  all  my  returns 
ready  to  be  loaded,  and  next  day  we  got  under  march 

*  Larpenteur  tells  a  good  story,  but  we  cannot  help  suspect- 
ing that  the  whole  affair  was  a  "  bluff,"  to  extract  presents  by 
working  on  the  trader's  fears.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  put-up 
game,  in  which  the  war-club  man  agreed  to  take  a  hand,  and 
play  the  part  of  a  protector  for  a  share  of  the  swag.  It  will  be 
observed  that  he  does  not  appear  upon  the  scene,  after  his  disin- 
terested benevolence.  The  haranguer's  eloquence  also  appears 
melodramatic.  However,  there  is  no  saying  what  a  lot  of  roaring 
drunk  Indians  might  have  done  on  such  an  occasion,  which  was 
always  liable  to  lead  to  bloodshed. 


RETURN  TO   FORT  UNION.  235 

with  35  packs  of  robes,  besides  some  small  furs.  The 
second  night  we  reached  Big  Muddy "  river,  about  30 
miles  from  Union.  This  being  a  place  which  I 
thought  dangerous,  and  likely  to  be  my  last  camp, 
I  stood  the  first  guard,  with  one-half  of  my  party.  I 
had  taken  with  me  one  of  the  first  chiefs  of  the  Indian 
camp,  with  three  of  his  most  reliable  soldiers,  which 
made  our  party  rather  strong.  About  eleven  o'clock 
I  discovered  the  gentlemanly  horse  thieves  coming 
straight  into  camp;  they  shook  hands,  seemed  glad  to 
see  us,  and  after  smoking  a  while  laid  down  to  sleep. 
Seeing  us  so  well  on  our  guard,  they  gave  up  the  idea 
of  robbing  us;  early  in  the  morning  they  took  their 
leave,  and  glad  we  were  to  see  them  of?.  The  morn- 
ing was  fine  and  warm,  which  enabled  us  to  get  an 
early  start.  We  expected  to  encamp  at  the  Little 
Muddy,  ten  miles  above  Union;  but  arriving  there 
about  two  hours  before  sunset,  and  not  liking  the  idea 
of  another  night's  guard,  we  concluded  to  push  on  to 
the  fort.  After  smoking  a  pipe  we  resumed  our 
march,  and  entered  the  fort  a  little  after  dark.  The 
fort  was  full  of  drunken  Indians,  as  usual.  Mr.  Mc- 
Kenzie  was  extremely  glad  to  see  me  back,  and  be- 
gan to  tell  me  how  things  had  gone  on  during  my  ab- 

«The  first  considerable  tributary  of  the  Missouri  from  the  N. 
above  Fort  Union — to  be  distinguished  from  another  stream  of 
the  same  name  below  the  fort.     Distance  42  m.  by  river. 


236  LEFT   MASTERS  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

sence,  saying  he  was  at  a  loss  how  to  get  through  with 
all  those  drunken  Indians,  with  the  traders  he  had  in 
that  shop.  Finally  he  said,  "  Larpenteur,  I  am  forced 
to  ask  you  to  finish  this  trade,  although  I  know  you 
must  be  tired.  I  have  been  frequently  tempted  to  go 
and  trade  myself,  but  you  know  that  would  never  do." 
Finding  the  old  gentleman  in  such  trouble,  although 
much  fatigued  I  went  into  the  shop  after  a  good 
supper,  traded  all  that  night,  finished  the  business, 
and  got  the  Indians  oflf  next  day. 

This  [1845-46]  winter's  trade  convinced  the  New 
York  firm  of  Fox,  Livingston  and  Co.  that  it  was  a 
losing  game  to  oppose  the  American  Fur  Company; 
they  came  to  the  conclusion  to  sell  out,  and  we  were 
again  left  masters  of  the  country. 


AMERICAN  EXPLORERS  SERIES   NO.  I 


THE    JOURNAL    OF    JACOB    FOWLER 

Narrating  an  Adventure  from  Arkansas  through  the  Indian 
Territory,  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  Colorado,  and  New  Mex- 
ico to  the  sources  of  the  Rio  Grande  Del  Norte,  1821-22. 

Edited,  with  Notes,  by  DR.  ELLIOTT  COUES 

Plate,  8vo  cloth,  uncut.         $3.00  net 


Edition  limited  to  950  numbered   copies,  and   published   uniform  with 
"  Forty  Years  a  Fur  Trader  on  the  Upper  Missouri." 

Major  Jacob  Fowler  is  a  hitherto  unknown  explorer,  whose  expedi- 
tion from  Fort  Smith  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  return  to  St.  Louis 
has  never  been  heard  of  before.  It  is  printed  verbatim  et  literatim  from 
the  autograph  MS. 

The  date  of  Fowler's  expedition  is  a  critical  one,  immediately  follow- 
ing Long's,  and  fills  with  new  data  a  page  hitherto  blank  in  the  history 
of  Western  Exploration.  It  contains  the  first  record  of  ascent  of  the 
Arkansaw  from  Fort  Smith  to  the  site  of  Pueblo,  Colorado,  first 
record  of  building  an  inhabited  house  at  site  of  Pueblo,  20  years  before 
Pueblo  was  founded,  first  record  of  making  Sangre  de  Cristo  Pass  by  an 
American  party,  first  record  of  ascent  of  the  Rio  Grande  to  its  head- 
waters by  an  American  party,  etc.,  etc. 


A  FEW  REVIEWS  ON  THE  APPEARANCE  OF  THIS  WORK 

NEW  YORK  TIMES:— 

The  Journal  of  this  expedition  now  first  presented  to  the  public,  is  a  rich 
addition  to  the  pioneer  history  of  Western  America. 

THE  AMERICAN,  PHILADELPHIA:— 

What  (Dr.  Coues)  has  already  done  fully  entitles  him  to  the  unique  and  enviable 
position  of  historian  of  the  early  history  of  Western  North  America.  His  volumes 
attest  his  indefatigable  energy  and  zeal  in  the  work,  and  conscientious  painstaking 
research,  no  less  than  his  knowledge  of  the  subject  and  his  ability  to  handle  it. 

THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  NEWS:— 

The  value  of  the  work  (Fowler  Journal)  is  very  largely  increased  by  nearly  i8o 
notes  by  the  editor  who  is  peculiarly  well  fitted  for  the  work  by  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  subject  and  previous  experience  in  editing  similar  books. 

THE  SUN,  BALTIMORE:— 

It  supplements  early  Western  exploration,  and  the  prior  accounts  of  the  dis- 
position, manners  and  customs  of  the  Arapahoes,  Osages,  Comanches  and  others, 
and  is  a  very  amusing  display  of  the  real,  unadulterated  human  nature  of  these 
pioneers.     The  spelling  is  a  curiosity,  and  is  given  as  Major  Fowler  wrote  it  down. 

AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  REVIEW:— 

The  memoranda  jotted  down  from  day  to  day  by  Major  Fowler  relate  to  a  world 
in  much  of  which  he  was  the  earliest  explorer.  They  ought  to  have  been  published 
long  ago.  His  experience  as  a  land  surveyor  doubles  the  value  of  his  observations. 
Multitudes  in  Kansas  and  Colorado  will  greet  his  book  with  a  double  welcome. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 

COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


BEC'D  COI,.  LIB. 

MOV  211968 


Book  Slip-15w-8,'58(5890s4)4280 


^^        ;S 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


UCLA-Coll«ge  Library 

F  598  L32  v.1 


L  005  716  684  5 


F 

L32 
v.l 


"C  SOUTHf  R^  oc.,„, 


A     001  022  51 


